Rabies in a human patient

[Dandelion]

I remember seeing on television a guy entering the hospital who was unable to drink, was feverish, had a sore throat, had hypomanic tempers, etc... The doctor asked him whether he was bitten by an animal and his answer "yes, when I visited the US with my GF I got bitten by a raccoon".

He didn't survive obviously. The only thing they could do for him was ease his pain. He married his GF before he passed away.

That's one 'downside' of the disease having been rooted out here. People can be ignorant about it's existence elsewhere. Had he visited a doctor in the US, he still had been alive today.

[♥ Lily ♥]

'There have been no cases of rabies in the UK for more than a century since 1902, apart from one single case in 2002 of a man who died in Scotland after he was bitten by an rabid bat that flew into the UK. The last recorded case of rabies in the UK was in 2012. The patient, who died, contracted the disease after being bitten by a dog in India.'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm

From the UK's NHS site (National Health Service)

Quarantine and the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS)

The movement of potentially infected animals across borders into uninfected regions is controlled by strictly enforcing quarantine regulations. Animals that don't have a licence shouldn't be brought into the UK.

The Pet Travel Scheme is a system that allows pet dogs, cats and ferrets from certain countries to enter the UK without going into quarantine as long as they have been vaccinated. It also means people in the UK can take their dogs, cats and ferrets to other European Union (EU) countries and return with them to the UK.

More information can be found on the GOV.UK website.

How common is human rabies?

There are an estimated 60,000 deaths from human rabies each year worldwide. Most cases occur in the developing world, particularly in Africa and Asia.

As a result of strict UK quarantine laws regarding transporting animals, as well as the introduction of the Pet Travel Scheme, the UK has been rabies-free since the beginning of the 20th century, with the exception of a rabies-like virus in a single species of bat.

There have been no cases of human rabies acquired in the UK since 1902, apart from a case of rabies acquired in a bat-handler from an infected bat in 2002. The last recorded case of rabies in the UK was in 2012. The patient, who died, contracted the disease after being bitten by a dog in India.

Page last reviewed: 17/02/2015
Next review due: 17/02/2017

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Rabies/...roduction.aspx

[♥ Lily ♥]

'Australia and New Zealand are free of rabies. There have been two confirmed human deaths from the disease, in 1987 and 1990 in Australia. Both were contracted overseas and outside of the nation. There is also a report of an 1867 case. There has been professional concern that the arrival of rabies in Australia is likely given its wide presence in Australian's neighbour Indonesia.'

http://www.travelclinic.co.nz/vaccin...91-rabies.html