![]() ![]() The first half of the book is, as promised, a cultural history-4,000 years of literature references to rabies, hydrophobia, "rage" disease, and dog- and bat-borne contagion in places as far-flung as various mythologies (Greco-Roman, Christian, and Egyptian, to name a few) medical literature from Aristotle to Pasteur and even the vampire myths from medieval times up to Sesame Street's Count. ![]() Indeed, while the recognition of the rabies virus is just a bit over a hundred years old, Wasik and Murphy trace the infection back to antiquity. It's subtitled, "A cultural history of the world's most diabolical virus," and this emphasis makes Rabid unique. In a new book, "Rabid", Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy have penned an ambitious history of rabies. are typically due to wildlife exposure (rabid bats or even beavers or rabid kitten), infected dogs remain the main vector of infection in most rabies-endemic countries. Today is World Rabies Day, a reminder that 55,000 people still succumb to this virus every year-most of them in impoverished regions of Africa and Asia. However, worldwide, rabies is another matter. ![]() ![]() In contrast, lightning is responsible for about 60 deaths each year. In developed countries, human disease is incredibly rare-we see typically one or two deaths from rabies each year. Rabies is a disease without a public relations firm. ![]()
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