From Alzheimer’s to Zebrafish: Eclectic Science and Regulatory Stories 140
pets and public education. Where canine rabies has not been adequately controlled, as in
most developing countries of Asia and Africa and in many parts of South America, dogs
account for 90% or more of reported cases in animals.14 According to the CDC, seven of the
31 human rabies cases reported in the US since 2000 were acquired from exposure abroad.
Two were acquired in the Philippines, and one each in Ghana, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico
and India.15
Rabies Pathogenesis
The pathogenesis of rabies is not completely understood.16 Variance in strain pathogenic-
ity and host susceptibility make animal models difficult to apply to naturally occurring
animal and human disease. It appears that the virus usually enters the body through
saliva via a bite injury, although saliva entry through open wounds and mucous mem-
branes (i.e., eyes, nose and mouth) has occurred.
Transmission of the rabies virus has also been reported from corneal transplants
and by inhalation.17 The virus attaches to skeletal muscle cells via nicotinic acetylcholine
receptors and replicates at the wound site. Subsequently, the virus enters sensory or motor
neurons and travels along a neuronal pathway to the spinal cord and eventually to the
brain. The virus spreads along nerves to multiple organs, including the salivary glands,
which provides the vehicle for transmission.
About 80% of patients develop an encephalitic form of rabies and 20% have a
paralytic form. An untreated patient with the encephalitic type frequently manifests a
wandering tendency, restlessness, signs of autonomic dysfunction, hypersensitivity to
stimuli, a feeling of terror, persistent insomnia and an increasing agitation. This is fol-
lowed by the most characteristic features of rabies—hydrophobia and muscle spasms.
Death usually occurs within three to 10 days after onset of symptoms, as a result of hyper-
ventilation, arrhythmia, exhaustion and hypotension.18
Rabies is a unique disease in which the patient suffers a most agonizing death.
According to Dr. Lewis Thomas, “more than any other disease, a patient with rabies
remains acutely aware of every stage in the process of his or her disintegration right up to
the final moment of dying.”19
Rabies–A Possible Explanation for the Vampire Legend
Vampires are back in the news and other media. For example, there are now hundreds of
vampire-themed websites, numerous television shows and movies and a host of books on
the subject. There is even Count Chocula, a children’s breakfast cereal. All can be consid-
ered under the heading of vampirology.
The most famous story of vampires occurred in the Serbian village of Medvedja, in
the winter of 1731–32.20 The deaths of some peasants were attributed to a vampire who
allegedly had also killed other people and animals. Eventually, 17 cadavers with sup-
posed signs of vampirism were uncovered and pierced with stakes, decapitated and
cremated. During the second half of the 18th century, stories of vampires progressively
vanished from the Balkans, but later reappeared in the works of many European and
American writers. Dracula, a literary character created in 1897, has become the paradigm
of vampires after being depicted in many films featuring Bela Lugosi and others. The
modern market has been reintroduced to the vampire mythos through the wildly popular
“Twilight” books and movies.
One writer proposed that rabies played a key role in the development of the vampire leg-
end, given the coincident time of the phenomena and the striking similarities between them.
Rabies certainly appears similar to vampirism. The characteristic spasms regularly involve the
facial, laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles, and may cause emission of hoarse sounds and an
appearance with “the teeth clinched and the lips retracted as those of an animal.”21
pets and public education. Where canine rabies has not been adequately controlled, as in
most developing countries of Asia and Africa and in many parts of South America, dogs
account for 90% or more of reported cases in animals.14 According to the CDC, seven of the
31 human rabies cases reported in the US since 2000 were acquired from exposure abroad.
Two were acquired in the Philippines, and one each in Ghana, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico
and India.15
Rabies Pathogenesis
The pathogenesis of rabies is not completely understood.16 Variance in strain pathogenic-
ity and host susceptibility make animal models difficult to apply to naturally occurring
animal and human disease. It appears that the virus usually enters the body through
saliva via a bite injury, although saliva entry through open wounds and mucous mem-
branes (i.e., eyes, nose and mouth) has occurred.
Transmission of the rabies virus has also been reported from corneal transplants
and by inhalation.17 The virus attaches to skeletal muscle cells via nicotinic acetylcholine
receptors and replicates at the wound site. Subsequently, the virus enters sensory or motor
neurons and travels along a neuronal pathway to the spinal cord and eventually to the
brain. The virus spreads along nerves to multiple organs, including the salivary glands,
which provides the vehicle for transmission.
About 80% of patients develop an encephalitic form of rabies and 20% have a
paralytic form. An untreated patient with the encephalitic type frequently manifests a
wandering tendency, restlessness, signs of autonomic dysfunction, hypersensitivity to
stimuli, a feeling of terror, persistent insomnia and an increasing agitation. This is fol-
lowed by the most characteristic features of rabies—hydrophobia and muscle spasms.
Death usually occurs within three to 10 days after onset of symptoms, as a result of hyper-
ventilation, arrhythmia, exhaustion and hypotension.18
Rabies is a unique disease in which the patient suffers a most agonizing death.
According to Dr. Lewis Thomas, “more than any other disease, a patient with rabies
remains acutely aware of every stage in the process of his or her disintegration right up to
the final moment of dying.”19
Rabies–A Possible Explanation for the Vampire Legend
Vampires are back in the news and other media. For example, there are now hundreds of
vampire-themed websites, numerous television shows and movies and a host of books on
the subject. There is even Count Chocula, a children’s breakfast cereal. All can be consid-
ered under the heading of vampirology.
The most famous story of vampires occurred in the Serbian village of Medvedja, in
the winter of 1731–32.20 The deaths of some peasants were attributed to a vampire who
allegedly had also killed other people and animals. Eventually, 17 cadavers with sup-
posed signs of vampirism were uncovered and pierced with stakes, decapitated and
cremated. During the second half of the 18th century, stories of vampires progressively
vanished from the Balkans, but later reappeared in the works of many European and
American writers. Dracula, a literary character created in 1897, has become the paradigm
of vampires after being depicted in many films featuring Bela Lugosi and others. The
modern market has been reintroduced to the vampire mythos through the wildly popular
“Twilight” books and movies.
One writer proposed that rabies played a key role in the development of the vampire leg-
end, given the coincident time of the phenomena and the striking similarities between them.
Rabies certainly appears similar to vampirism. The characteristic spasms regularly involve the
facial, laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles, and may cause emission of hoarse sounds and an
appearance with “the teeth clinched and the lips retracted as those of an animal.”21