Page 30 - The Villager September 2021
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Health & Wellness











































                                                                                                                       ISTOCk

             wHetHer FuriouS or paralYtiC,


                                  rabieS iS no JoKe





                                                        BY CASeY BROWN
            Rabies is an infectious neurological disease that attacks the brain and, if not
            caught early, it is almost always fatal to both people and animals.


                  ontrary to popular belief, the   a wild animal. If they are allowed to run   WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
                  most fatal disease known to   freely on a farm or in a game reserve,   In animals, one of the most tell-tale
            Cmankind  is  not  the  COVID-19   they may be attacked by a rabid animal.   signs is foaming at the mouth or
            virus – it’s rabies.  This is according   This applies not only to dogs and cats,   excessive drooling. The animal will have
            to Jacqueline  Weyer, Senior Medical   but extends to cows and horses, too.   difficulty swallowing and may develop
            Scientist at the National Institute of   The kinds of wild animals that might   a fever. From there, the disease either
            Communicable  Diseases  (NICD).  Once   be carriers in our countryside would be   progresses to Furious Rabies or Paralytic
            the symptoms become evident, there   jackals, foxes, badgers, monkeys and   Rabies.
            is  no cure,  she says. This  applies  to  all   bats, amongst others.   In Furious Rabies, the animal
            mammals, including humans.         The disease is transmitted through   becomes restless and irritable. It may
              It’s not all doom and gloom,    the saliva of an infected animal that   become  over-sensitive  to light,  noise
            however, as rabies is preventable,   either enters the victim’s body through   and movement, causing it to become
            provided animals receive regular rabies   a bite or a scratch, or via the mucous   aggressive. In Paralytic Rabies, the
            vaccinations.                     membrane of the eyes, nose or mouth.   animal becomes lethargic and may
                                              The problem is, the virus can lie dormant   withdraw to a quiet, dark place.
            HOW IS RABIES TRANSMITTED?        in the victim’s body for weeks (possibly   As the disease takes hold, the animal
            Domestic animals will most likely   up to six months) before the symptoms   will struggle to walk and will have
            contract the disease through a bite from   become evident.         seizures. When the virus attacks the spinal


             28  •  Issue 9  2021  •  The Villager
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