In principle, no human should die from rabies anymore, and yet the virus still kills 59,000 people annually, mostly in Asian and African countries. That total is not as high as the death toll from tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria; but, unlike those diseases, every mammal appears to be susceptible.
SINGAPORE – A virus that infects your brain, makes you want to bite things, and is almost always fatal after symptoms appear probably sounds like something from a zombie movie. But this has been the modus operandi of rabies at least since 2300 BC, when it was described in the Eshuma Code of Babylon. The word’s Sanskrit etymology – rabhas, meaning “to do violence” – dates back even further, to 3000 BC.
SINGAPORE – A virus that infects your brain, makes you want to bite things, and is almost always fatal after symptoms appear probably sounds like something from a zombie movie. But this has been the modus operandi of rabies at least since 2300 BC, when it was described in the Eshuma Code of Babylon. The word’s Sanskrit etymology – rabhas, meaning “to do violence” – dates back even further, to 3000 BC.