What are the ways of transmission of rabies virus?

Rabies is a vicious virus that has never been eradicated in human history. It has a great impact on people's health. Once infected, there is no way to cure it, and the mortality rate is 100%. Therefore, people are very afraid of rabies virus in their lives. To eliminate this virus, we need to understand its transmission routes and characteristics, etc. Let's take a look at the transmission routes of rabies virus.

Generally speaking, there are two types of rabies:

The rabies virus isolated from patients and sick animals is neurotropic and salivary gland tropic, and can cause rabies in humans or animals. The main symptom is madness, which is called furious rabies (accounting for 80%).

The rabies virus isolated from bats in Central and South America can cause rabies in humans and animals after infecting them. But the main symptom is paralysis. It is called paralytic rabies (accounting for 20%). The characteristics of this virus are that it is both neurotropic and visceral tropic and has a relatively weak invasive ability. However, it can be transmitted through the air, forming atypical Neisseria bodies in the brain.

The virus can be isolated in the saliva of people with rabies. Theoretically, although human-to-human infection is possible, the possibility is extremely small. For example, rabies patients may transmit the rabies virus to others through tissue or organ transplantation surgery, but there have been only six cases of human-to-human infection caused by organ transplantation in the world. Although the possibility of rabies being transmitted by patients biting others or directly or indirectly infecting healthy people through saliva cannot be ruled out, there is currently no conclusive evidence of human-to-human infection. Therefore, it is not easy for people to be infected.

How rabies is transmitted

There are three main ways rabies is transmitted:

1. Infection caused by bites or scratches on the skin or licking of mucous membranes by dogs or other animals. Rabies virus invades the nerves through wounds and mucous membranes and causes disease. This is the main mode of infection.

2. Infection caused by accidentally pricking the hands during slaughtering or skinning.

3. Infection through the digestive tract. Animals that died of rabies are buried underground and frozen in the winter. They are then dug out by wild dogs or other animals, which eat their meat and infect them with rabies.

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