Federal State Budgetary Institution "Primorskaya Interregional Veterinary Laboratory" reminds about measures to prevent rabies

It is preventable if a timely course of vaccination is carried out before (for preventive purposes) or after the moment of infection.

It is transmitted with saliva when bitten by a sick animal. Then, spreading along the nerve pathways, the virus reaches the salivary glands, nerve cells of the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, bulbar centers and, affecting them, causes severe disorders leading to death.

The source of infection is sick animals. Wild animals (foxes, wolves, bats), domestic animals (cats, horses, dogs, pigs, cattle), and rodents (rats) can get rabies.

The presence of a bite or the saliva of rabid animals on damaged skin is of great importance for diagnosing the disease. One of the most important signs of the disease in humans is hydrophobia with the phenomena of spasm of the pharyngeal muscles at the mere sight of water and food, which makes it impossible to drink evenglass of water. No less indicative is the symptom of aerophobia - muscle cramps that occur with the slightest movement of air. Increased salivation is also characteristic; in some patients, a thin stream of saliva constantly flows out of the corner of the mouth, the jaw droops due to paralysis of the zygomatic muscles.

Prevention of rabies consists of combating rabies among animals: vaccination (domestic, stray and wild animals), quarantine, etc. People bitten by rabid or unknown animals must undergo local wound treatment immediately or as soon as possible after the bite or injury; the wound is washed with plenty of water and soap and treated with 40-70-degree alcohol or iodine solution, if indicated, anti-rabies immunoglobulin is injected deep into the wound and into the soft tissues around it, after local wound treatment, specific treatment is immediately carried out , which consists of therapeutic and prophylactic immunization with an anti-rabies vaccine.