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Rabies
Make it clearer
Rabies is a disease caused by a virus that lives in animals and can pass to people, and what it attacks is the central nervous system, meaning the brain and the spinal cord. The virus travels in the saliva of an infected mammal, and the most common route is a bite.
There are three words here that people use as if they meant the same thing, and they do not. An exposure means having had a risky contact, nothing more than that: it does not prove the virus got in. If the virus does take hold, there is an infection, and then a stretch of time can pass, the incubation period, in which the person feels absolutely nothing. Clinical disease is the third thing, and it starts the day symptoms show up. It is like a letter: it may have just been dropped in the mailbox, it may be on its way, or it may already be opened and read.
In brief
Rabies is caused by a virus that can spread from animals to humans and affects the central nervous system, meaning the brain and spinal cord.
It spreads mainly through the saliva of infected mammals, most often by a bite.
Exposure, infection, and clinical disease are not the same thing. A potential exposure means contact that could transmit the virus; it does not prove infection. If infection takes hold, there may be an incubation period without symptoms; clinical disease begins when symptoms appear.
Sources (2)
- World Health OrganizationRabiesPublished
- Centers for Disease Control and PreventionClinical Overview of RabiesPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated