A History of Rabies

Despite millennia of struggle against the disease, rabies remains one of the deadliest illnesses known to man.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #Rabies

[@dnile50]

I did not know about Louis Pasteur's role in developing the rabies vaccine. I was badly bitten by a rabid dog when I was a child in the mid-1950s (and still have the scars) . I don't remember the pain, only screaming a lot when I got the shots after the mauling. I am alive today because of Louis Pasteur. Thank you, Dr. Pasteur.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Thankfully far fewer shots today.

[@christineparis5607]

My grandmother was bitten by a mad dog and had to have rabies shots in the stomach, as I remember. She said it was terribly painful! When we had an invasion of skunks under our house, we had a company come in to humanely remove them, and I had a lot of fun talking to the hard bitten wranglers who got wild animals moved. They all had great stories, and showed me a lot of scars! They all had to have rabies vaccines before they could work there. One guy handed me a big bucket one day and said, "don't take the lid off". It was very heavy. I held it up to my face trying to see what was inside. "What is it?" I asked, thinking squirrel, or armadillo. "Big rattlesnake" he said, laughing hysterically at the look on my face, an inch away from a huge, heavy rattler! Those guys had a great sense of humor. Since I didn't scream or drop the bucket, I passed some test and they were always incredibly nice to me after that. .I loved their adventures...

[@freeto9139]

Bitten myself in '62, Eagle Mountain Lake, TX. My fault for messing with the dog when he was enjoying his bone. He was put under observation and I was too. Luckily, I narrowly avoided the shot series. Got away with a couple of stitches and a scar, but felt so bad that I caused that dog to be almost condemned. They considered putting him down, seriously. Folks didn't mess around back then ... My pleas, to give him lenecy were successful. I sure felt guilty for causing that scene with both our families and the animal control people. I was just a pup, myself; I matured in attitude toward man and beast that summer.

[@christineparis5607]

@@freeto9139 You sound like a wonderful human being, to have been compassionate to the dog showed a great deal of character on your part! I'm glad you were both survivors!!

[@freeto9139]

@Doom emphatically I agree 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@estherjamack7717]

I was bitten by a rabid bat in 2006. I will be forever grateful to Pasteur for his work! Those shots are why I am here today.

[@TamagoHead]

I hope it wasn’t one of my ex-wives.

[@derekbootle8316]

I was bitten by a rabbid snake, and was lucky to get treatment. Sadly, the snake was venomous so I died anyway. 😢

[@TamagoHead]

@@derekbootle8316 Trump was bitten by a rabbit snake who mistook him for a carrot (and the rabbit liked Cheetos too)

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

@@TamagoHead Biden sniffed a rabid girl. Despite surviving, his deterated mental state is quite obvious with his lack of an ability to make a coherent statement.

[@bubbaray575]

Biden was bitten by a snake, oh it was terrible and not easy to conceal by the press. Anyway 3 solid days of pure agony, hallucinations and racks of pain relief finally came....the snake died

[@hlynnkeith9334]

I was raised on a ranch. When I was 8 years old, my father showed me where he kept his 22-caliber rifle. He took the rifle out of its case, and we walked together down the hill to our stock tank, stopping along the way to pick up a block of 2x6 that he covered with tar paper. He set the block down next to the water, and we walked back to our fenced yard. My father passed me the rifle, pointed to the tank, and said, "I want you to shoot that block." The distance was about 200 yards. I missed the first four shots, but I hit the block with my fifth shot. My father then told me why he had me shoot the block. "If you ever see a skunk come up to the tank in the daytime, it's because it has rabies." Skunks are nocturnal. "First thing you do is lock up the dogs. Then you get this rifle and load it with hollow points. Then you stand right here -- don't try to get closer -- and you shoot the skunk. After you kill the skunk, take the post-hole diggers and bury that skunk four feet deep. So the dogs don't dig it up. After you have buried the skunk, you can let the dogs out." After I killed six skunks that summer, I quit counting.

[@AnyoneCanSee]

Your father didn't know what the hell he was talking about. This is from an online source - "Contrary to the popular belief that skunks are solely nocturnal, they can come out during the day. Skunks often come out during the day to hunt, gather and avoid nocturnal predators such as owls." So your dad just had you shoot a bunch of skunks coming out to avoid other predators. So after you spent your childhood killing and torturing small animals did you move on to being a serial killer or not? Is there a school shooting in your past? You just seem so proud of all the unnecessary killing.

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Amazing story

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Thank you for sharing

[@hlynnkeith9334]

@@johnfitbyfaithnet Thank you.

[@prolly2stoned420]

@@hlynnkeith9334 what was the tank? And why would rabid skunks go to it all the time?

[@katydid5088]

A dog mauled my leg as a child and I remember getting the vaccines and a sore tuchus afterward. Back then they gave you twelve in the series or something, and I had the first 5 at the hospital and the rest at the local GP office. Glad to have them, and thank you Louise Pasteur for your contribution to prevention. I watched a family friend go through the full course of Tetanus infection because they were never vaccinated. (Their home country was impoverished and did not allow for any of the global vaccination programs in as a matter of political distain.) He survived but was permanently disabled and tube fed for the rest of his life because the surgeries to "unlock" his jaw failed. It was a horrible thing to witness growing up and I cannot imagine what their family's day-to-day was like. He died fairly young from complications of Pneumonia.

[@stephenbrand5661]

My grandfather had polio as a kid and it left him disabled for the rest of his life. His fingers were so twisted up they looked like scary claws to me as a child and compared to a lot of other polio patients his case wasn't all that bad. If he'd ended up in an iron lung or something I wouldn't exist. It truly is amazing how much less terrifying the world is thanks to vaccines.

[@captainskippy6622]

My wife was an epidemiologist nurse for our state health department for 30 years and worked rabies as well as other maladies. Of all the cases she only had one man survive, but he did so with a myriad of health problems. She also worked a rabies cow case, the only one known in our state.

[@erickrobertson7089]

Wisconsin?

[@Chiller01]

Rabies in cattle is not that uncommon. As a veterinarian, bovine rabies is probably a bigger threat to members of my profession than rabid dogs. A common symptom in cattle is salivation or difficulty swallowing eliciting an oral examination by the vet. Since the virus is present in the saliva any contact with a small wound on the hand or forearm can transmit the disease.

[@b_uppy]

I heard they put a woman in a coma and she was able to survive. The survival rate is increasing...

[@jvleasure]

There were a multitude of creatures with rabies in SE Ohio in the 1940s. I think I recall a cow and a horse both.

[@b_uppy]

@@jvleasure When I was a kid you'd often hear of rabies warnings.

[@raywhitehead730]

Later in life I worked in a active emergency room for ten years, in California I never had a case if Rabies. However, the strangest case I ever heard about was: A woman who lived in Paris, France got rabies from a cornea transplant. The donor who had died was Egyptian. And sure enough, the town where she lived had, had confirmed rabid dogs.

[@greggi47]

That was the story line in a popular American medical show. An MD made an unethical decision to "bump up" a personal friend on the list of people waiting for a liver transplant. The organ had been screened for all the usual possible infections and passed s safe. The friend soon manifested rabies symptoms and died of the least expected malady. I don't recall what the consequences were for the Doc, aside from deep grief over being responsible for his friend's terrible end.

[@lilaralston6314]

In fact, two patients received corneas from the same donor, and they both got rabies and died: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8776570/#:~:text=Viruses%20such%20as%20human%20immunodeficiency,transmitted%20by%20the%20same%20donor.

[@raywhitehead730]

In those days, and probably still, the animals head was autopsied, and Negri bodies were confirmation for rabies, under the microscope. The case I mentioned was detailed in the the CDC publication I used to get, the Weekly Mortality and Morbidity report.

[@raywhitehead730]

It was an actual case, detailed by the CDC. You could look it up. It was published around 1980. It was the feature case in the Weekly Morbidity and Mortality report.

[@raywhitehead730]

Current studies on rabies by organ transplant can be had on Pub Med. Several specifically about cornea transplant. All peer reviewed journals.

[@raywood8187]

My older brother was 12 when he was bitten by a bat and since the animal couldn't be caught for testing, he was told he would need to have the rabies vaccine. He came back home after the first of a series, of which I believe at that time was 14 shots in the belly area, swearing that it burned so much that he would never get another one, and promptly ran away from home. Maybe from fears of becoming a vampire, he did return home later that day to a worried mom and did go get the rest of the shots. He still likes water and doesn't bite necks so all is well. Thankfully we did not have to rely on magic for a cure!

[@keithweiss7899]

In the late 1800’s, bicycle riders were very afraid of being bitten by dogs. So many companies sold small revolvers, with folding triggers for compactness, for them to carry and shoot attacking dogs. They were chambered in a special cartridge just for shooting dogs called the 5.5 mm Velo Dog.

[@horacegentleman3296]

I have a velodog type revolver, some are very well made, mine is not lol

[@g00gleminus96]

Many of the Velo-Dogs produced after 1900 accepted .22 LR or .25 ACP rounds

[@keithweiss7899]

@@g00gleminus96 The 5.5 Velo Dog is a Centerfire cartridge. The common .22 caliber cartridges won’t work in them. They are rimfire. Of course the .25 APC cartridge is too large to fit in any 5.5 Velo Dog gun. Velo Dog is a 5.5 mm cartridge, not a gun. Wiki got this wrong, as they do many times.

[@understandingthetimes2867]

I would like one of these pistols

[@ErikBramsen]

Based.

[@VincentVader]

I remember watching Old Yeller as a kid.

[@atomicshadowman9143]

Disney: Traumatizing children since 1936

[@Whammytap]

As someone who has a fascination with/deep terror of rabies, I've picked up a few interesting facts: the reason you are less to be bitten by a rabid squirrel or bat is because the smaller the mammal, the more quickly the virus kills the animal.

[@hardlyb]

A friend of mine recently got bitten by an unvaccinated dog; he piddled around about taking the shots much longer than I would have, but since the dog was asymptomatic as my friend was approaching the deadline, it was decided he could avoid taking the treatment. My late mother-in-law, being tougher, just went to get the shots immediately upon confirming the dog didn't have an up-to-date vaccination. She said the shots were 'unpleasant', but she had a very high tolerance for pain (and exhaustion, as she had 4 kids in 4 years, then got a PhD in five years, starting when the youngest kid was in first grade, at a university 50+ miles from where she lived, while working full-time).

[@gavinlowe6079]

Misread the title at first: "A History of Babies." Well, that'd be a bit too deep.

[@paulmcmanus6222]

Same here. Also, I just realized I have been up all night!

[@jtgd]

The beginning would be VERY grim.

[@goodun2974]

A history of rabid babies who grow up to be even more rabid adults could be interesting. It seems we have no shortage of those nowadays , especially in public life.....🤔😖 ..

[@seanbatiz6620]

@@goodun2974 Sounds like a prequel of the show, The Walking Dead 🤪🤣

[@cmonkey63]

Another video on my YT feed this evening reads, "How American Sardines can target 90% of the world from the depths." Well, at least that's how I read it the first time. Turns out it's "submarines".

[@RISTRAW]

When my father was a boy living in Milwaukee in the 1920s, he was bitten by a rabid dog. His doctor procured a kit from the H. K. Mulford Pharmaceutical Company of Philadelphia. After over 20 injections, he survived.

[@V.Hansen.]

Any lasting complications?

[@RISTRAW]

@@V.Hansen. None that I was ever aware of. He lived until 1994 at 77 years old.

[@joshualieberman7558]

Aww man you didn’t talk about the pre-exposure vaccine. Every veterinarian is required to take it by law and to get titers done once every other year. Was hoping you would talk about rabies and veterinarians because we are so intrinsically linked to the disease.

[@jtgd]

I never thought of that

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I did briefly mention it at 12:34. I agree that I could have mentioned the risk to veterinarians, there are always choices to make when cutting to approximately 15 minutes.

[@frankyflowers]

@@circusshizshow animals like food

[@joshualieberman7558]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I am completely aware of this. The topic is rather expansive so I understand the need to cut. The video was great and was a great overview of the history of rabies.

[@horacegentleman3296]

@@circusshizshow Disney princess syndrome

[@chrismaverick9828]

Researching Rabies one night (just one of those random questioning something I knew little about) I came across some videos of human Rabies victims in various stages after onset of symptoms. Ugly, ugly stuff. One could not be judged in any harsh way for killing themselves or someone else who had progressed to the irreversible stages, as the last ones were very very unpleasant even to watch.

[@jamessotherden5909]

Ive only seen one rabid animal in my 70 years. That was back in 76 at Tyndall AFB. A fox came into the fire station. It was foaming at the mouth and walking all over the place. We all climbed on top of the fire trucks. Security police came and shot it when it finally walked outside. It was tested and found to have rabies. Here at home racoons and skunks seen to be the main carriers.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yes, Raccoon's are a big time carrier of rabies on the North American Continent, I've shot several rabid one's myself, anytime you see a Raccoon wandering around in the wide open in broad daylight be very leery of it, if it hisses at you and has that "thousand yard stare" in it's eyes either blast it or call someone you know has no problems doing so.

[@DWilliam1]

Raccoons are big carriers in NY.

[@petermarsh5762]

Ontario Canada used to have the dubious reputation as the rabies Capitol of the world. Back in 1989 scientists working jointly for both its Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) and Ministry of Agriculture at the Great Lakes Forest research institute developed vectored oral vaccines that were air droppable from the OMNR’s Twin Otter aircraft. They would target areas where reported cases had occurred and used different target vector vaccines depending on species. (Fox,raccoon, coyote) The dropped vaccines have drastically reduced outbreaks. Since then the OMNR have taken the technology on the road introducing the scheme to Texas as well as the states that border Ontario. All have enjoyed a respite from this horrible disease. The OMNR’s Air Service branch does all manner of aerial work including fire suppression and is the world oldest government air service and has been in continuous service since 1924.

[@user-ut4zw6so6o]

They did something similar here on Long Island, where they targeted the main vectors raccoons with bait laced with vaccine. This area is considered mostly rabies free, although there were a few breakthrough cases in wild animals a few years ago.

[@raymondlowry8564]

Yours is one of my top three or four favorite channels I watch. I have always been History fan. When I completed my undergraduate work (degrees in Zoology and Biochemistry) I had 15 more semester units than needed to graduate - all in various areas of History. I wish even a quarter of my professors had been half as accomplished as you are in telling “the story.” Well done as always and thank you!

[@raywhitehead730]

As a boy, of 12 years old, in Texas, myself, my younger brother and my Grandfather were attacked by a rabid dog that charged at us. We raced to get into the house and none of us was bitten. However the dog did charge the door several times. In true movie type character, the dog was growling, foaming at the mouth, and hung its head low. My Grandfather, shot and killed him. The State Lab, confirmed the infection.

[@losmazeman]

What a story. Glad you avoided the bite, and likely because the dog was already badly crippled by the disease. Good thing Grandfather had a gun too.

[@freeto9139]

@@losmazeman Amen! How true ... In that case I can think of nothing else that would work half as good 👍🏽

[@christineparis5607]

I live in Texas and rabies is still a problem here. Someone had a rabid cow at the rodeo a few years ago, it wasnt discovered until a few hundred people had been by the animals pen, and was a huge concern. It was right when the pandemic started, and I don't remember the outcome...

[@paintedwings74]

It must have been so scary back then, not that it wouldn't be now. Today, I know "rabid" wouldn't be my first thought if I met an angry dog. In the 1950's, seeing an angry, slavering dog must have prompted thoughts not just of mauling but of the terrible death of rabies.

[@spconrad9612]

Thank God for firearms and a granddad who knew how to use it.

[@alcoholfree6381]

I am a retired neurosurgeon. I recall a few people being treated for possible rabies after a dog bite and they all did well. We did diagnose and treat a man who had herpes of the brain. He died but not before undergoing a horrible prolonged death. Great presentation!

[@charlesjmouse]

Very good, thank you. Speaking as (thank God!) a retired doctor one of the most prevalent fallacies in our 'modern' society is the dangerous illusion that we have any real control over anything at all - as an example your health is dependent mostly on fortune, and otherwise on how well you care for yourself. You can do nothing about the former, neglect the latter and your doctor is almost entirely powerless to repair the damage you have done. In a way diseases like rabies collectively do us a necessary if miserable favour! They help remind the wise not to succumb completely to hubris. Regardless of how much we learn about extending our old age it will never be enough, we will always want more. Life will always be a precious commodity and so should be cherished while we have it.

[@gailnewcomb8256]

Well said! ❤

[@paintedwings74]

History Guy, as an ecologist, I'm fascinated by the way that the story of rabies played out in India when their population of vultures was knocked down by pollution. When vultures were the ones eating dead carcasses in the streets, the virus was removed by the birds, not eaten by dogs. When the vultures died off in droves, the carcasses were eaten by dogs instead of by birds, and any rabid carcasses became vectors to street dogs and then to humans. It's illustrative of how vital a role those vultures, and in Wisconsin, our turkey-vultures play in a healthy ecosystem.

[@be6715]

Wow! Just wow!

[@thejudgmentalcat]

We dodged a rabies bullet while I was growing up on a Michigan farm. A stray dog had been seen looking very ill, and my folks shot it before it could attack us (8yo me) or our dogs, horses or cattle. Neighbors came over and looked over the dead dog. I didn't understand at the time how serious rabies was till they kind of explained it to me. Never approach a sick animal, they said.

[@bethhentges]

And never approach a stray while in a developing country.

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Rabies is really fascinating and impressively lethal.

[@geodeaholicm4889]

i got attacked & bitten by a rabid bat on a drilling location about 14 yrs ago. it took over 2 hrs drive to get to a hospital, common sense told me it takes weeks or months for symptoms to appear, but it screwed with my head so bad i was continuously swallowing to avoid drooling by the time i reached the hospital... i still clearly remember worrying what would i do if i got an urge to BITE the 1st person i saw... happily, i managed to NOT chew on anybody.

[@turkeysandtiaras2623]

Old Yeller was my Papaw’s favorite movie and it always broke my 💜

[@GrumpyMeow-Meow]

I’m still feeling the trauma of that movie to this day.

[@kawadashogo8258]

That's one movie that I can never rewatch. As a dog-lover, it's just too damn sad.

[@BlueBaron3339]

Wonderfully written and extremely tight episode! Well done!

[@res00xua]

From zero to 7 likes in an instant. Many of us always watch this channel!

[@alexisb76]

I came across this video after discovering my father-in-law’s great uncle died of rabies at age 7 due to a dog bite. (This was in the UK in 1883.) The thing that shocked me, when I was looking for articles about it, was how often it seemed to happen!

[@goodun2974]

Recommended reading: "Rabies: a cultural history of the world's most diabolical virus" by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy. As a kid, the books that first interested me in this type of stuff were "the Incurable Wound" and "11 Blue Men" by Berton Rouche' who wrote and compiled stories of investigative epidemiology, basically medical detective stories about outbreaks of rare diseases, and mass poisonings, that had the experts stumped. The Incurable Wound was specifically about rabies.

[@PadraigTomas]

I've read a collection of Berton Rouche's articles entitled The Medical Detectives. The man was a formidable journalist. I was quite impressed with his explanations of rabies. It is a terrifyingly deadly ailment. If that disease is not the zombie apocalypse it will do till it comes along.

[@goodun2974]

@@PadraigTomas , I specifically remember several of his stories. A Swim In the Nile was about Schistomiasis (parasitic worms that burrow through your skin and into your circulatory system). A Pig from Jersey was about trichinosis. There were stories about anthrax, and histoplasmosis, and psittacosis....what can I say, I am fascinated by icky stuff that makes most people ill just to think about. I used to watch "Monsters Inside Me" as well.

[@dmarcouxbeatty374]

My parents were Diplomatic. We were in New Delhi, India in 1966. I was 6 and my older brother was 11. I have always been small and today I am only 5ft and 103-107pds. My brother stood 6ft when he was 12. We had a high wall around the house with guards but we would get monkeys in the yard. One day, Mike and I were in the yard. I had some fruit. We believe it was a young male because it was bigger then me. It tried to take my fruit. My brother was bigger then the monkey and I took Mike on all the time. I figured I could take it. (I WAS 6!) I proceeded to have a knock down dragout fight with a macaque. Mike was on the sidelines yelling tips. Gleefully! Then there was a lot of blood. The monkey didn't bite me really. One of his k9's got the bottom of my upper lip. Mother was a surgical nurse and put 4 stitches in but the monkey took off so I would have to have one rabies shot every day for 28 days in my stomach. I made them give my doll the shots first. If she cried. I wasn't going to have it. (I WAS 6!) Mike and the guards saw the condition of the monkey as it went for the wall. He ended up with blackeyes, split lip and bloody nose. All thanks to my brothers teachings! I am 62 now. I have a faint white line where my upper lip touches my teeth and my doll with 28 small holes in her stomach. The family has never let me live that fight down. If you ask Mike why he didn't do something. He smiles and says. I taught her how to take care of herself. She could take him and did. I have the best big brother! Although, I could have done without the swimming lesson in the Yamuna River and the shared typhoid that went with it. Mike and I have no idea how we lived through our childhood, let alone into our 60's. We do know one thing. We've had a damn good life and a lot of fun along the way.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Fighting a monkey is now one of my life goals.

[@dmarcouxbeatty374]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 Goals are a good thing! Little tip for you. Some monkeys when they are scared. Well releave themselves. Stay clear of the back blast zone. That is experience talking.

[@hlmoore8042]

@@dmarcouxbeatty374 Sorry I laughed way to hard at your story. What a life you must have had AND a good big brother.

[@tedwalford7615]

Great story! I've been to India a few times and was advised to always carry--and be prepared to use--a good-sized stick where monkeys are around. Usually they just steal your glasses or something, but they can become enraged and attack. - I avoided typhoid but did come home with malaria. - But it's a wonderful country!

[@dmarcouxbeatty374]

@@tedwalford7615 Yes Sir! It is a wonderful Country! Mike and I had a grand time! Well done on not catching typhoid. Our swim in the Yamuna was not scheduled but I learned how to swim really fast! Oops! We had the shots every year so we were sick but no where near deaths door. Same with the malaria. We were in Kenya at that time. Mum and I shared that but we had taken the pills for years. We were sick but no where near deaths door. Question for you. Did you see the Red Fort in Delhi? It is across the street from the main Sikh Temple. Both are just magnificent! Old Delhi was another favourite of ours.

[@nunyabidniz2868]

Scariest horror movie you'll ever see is the 2 minute documentary clip I once saw of a kid strapped to a gurney dying of rabies somewhere in a 3rd world hospital. Our folklore of vampires, werewolves & zombies derives from various aspects of humans infected w/ rabies. Unfortunately, there will be no WHO program to wipe out rabies like there was for smallpox, since it affects all mammals not just humans.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

WHO is partnering with a number of organizations in a plan called "Zero by 30." The goal is to end all human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272756/9789241513838-eng.pdf

[@poppedweasel]

The UK eradicated it from our island in 1922.

[@freedomloverusa3030]

@@poppedweasel the blessings of geography, is far easier to eradicate a disease like rabies in islands, but try the same in places like South America, with the Amazon jungle, Africa, India, etc. It would be impossible.

[@poppedweasel]

@@freedomloverusa3030 Indeed so. Yet nothing is insummountable.

[@chadparsons50]

Makes me wonder why we exhausted ourselves over a low mortality case like COVID-19. It is found in mammals, not just humans.

[@free_at_last8141]

Medical history is so deep and fascinating. Great video as always, and I hope to see more related to Medical history in the future.

[@SanguineCynic]

Imagine being that one person who took the deadliest diease known to man from a 100% fatality rate to a 99.9% fatality rate.

[@Iamrightyouarewrong]

Jeanna Giese-Frassetto, the first person to survive rabies without being vaccinated, became a mom when she gave birth to twins Carly Ann and Connor Primo on March 26, 2016. In 2004, Jeanna was bitten by a bat she rescued from her church in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, but did not seek medical attention.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Her survival offered a moment of great hope, but the Milwaukee protocol still fails far more often than it succeeds. Her life, though, can be counted a medical miracle.

[@AnonMedic]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel they should dig in and analyze everything she ate, breathed, check her blood type, and sequence her dna to attempt to synthesize monoclonal antibodies against rabies

[@b_uppy]

Wasn't she put into a medically induced coma? Think I heard of her...

[@paintedwings74]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel It was a medical miracle, but her recovery was incredibly difficult! It provided some important insights into the mechanism of destruction by the rabies virus; by quieting down the brain's own responses to the infection, it reduced the damage to the point that the immune system was slowly able to clear the virus. From there, the brain had to be "rebooted," and many basic functions relearned, such as walking and talking. Just getting that far into the process of preventing her death, doctors got more information on what the rabies virus does, and what part the body's own response plays, than we had ever learned before. Might one day lead to a real treatment, not to eradicate the virus, but to allow recovery.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

@@AnonMedic my understanding is that her cases has been thoroughly studied, and the protocol updated several times. It is being used more in South America, where the disease is a greater threat. But the odds are still against a person with symptomatic rabies.

[@jimmyyu2184]

I really should go and (re) visit my optometrist, I thought this episode was about Rabbis. And much to my disappointment or is it delight, I learned something else.

[@kerriwilson7732]

Rabbis rarely bite.

[@be6715]

@@kerriwilson7732 Thank God!

[@horsegirlb7120]

Veterinary staff are all required to receive a preventative vaccine series before working with animals of unknown vaccine history. Very often we send a case for testing, but none have been positive in my area since I started working with them.

[@TheSuperwrenchGarage]

Having worked on rabies vaccines for dogs and cats… an excellent episode.. also had post exposure prophylaxis 👍👍

[@jessicamorris4748]

As someone with a degree in wildlife biology I learned a great deal about rabies (and all zoonotic disease) in college, and I have been obliged to invest in pre-exposure rabies vaccines for myself. In this age when too many people seem to be forgetting how science works and unnecessarily panicking, I feel it is important to point out the difference between mortality rate and morbidity rate. While rabies does have a very high mortality rate (the people who do get sick frequently die from it), it doesn't have such a high morbidity rate (not that many people get sick with it). It is also worth noting that while rabies vaccines have played a huge role in preventing instances of rabies, especially in the USA and the UK, characteristics of the disease itself play an equally large role in prevention. In particular, the fact that rabies is most often (though not always) transmitted by a bite rather than an aerosol makes for lower transmission than for something like the common cold or its deadlier cousin, COVID-19. Similarly, topography plays a role in the mainland UK being rabies free. England, Scotland, and Wales are able to vaccinate their wildlife in a cost-effective manner because they are located on a small island. Although the USA has many laws requiring vaccination of dogs and some other domestic animals, the USA does not vaccinate its wildlife due to the size of the country and its long land borders which make this a cost prohibitive proposition. Fun fact: all mammals are actually susceptible to rabies, so if you see Flipper foaming at the mouth, run away! Also, ground hogs used to be on the rabies vector species list in Pennsylvania.

[@TheNutriarat]

I'll stick with leprous armadillos......:)

[@pauldoran3990]

In 2001 In Reston Virginia a man died of rabies after being misdiagnosed for a number of days, he had stated that he had no bites or scratches or contact with any animals. By the time they correctly diagnosed him it was too late. They later guessed that he must of come into contact with some still virulent bit of saliva or blood while working in his garden. It was the last known death from non-bite rabies in Virginia. In 2003 I helped a neighbor by removing a sick bat she found on the floor of basement. After I removed it all will wearing leather work gloves and making sure I did not directly touch it while putting it in a plastic bag. I then called animal control and asked if they wanted to pick up the still live bat for testing they did and two hours later I received a call from the Fairfax county health department saying I needed to begin treatment for exposure to rabies, I demurred and gave them the number of the neighbor. I called my own heath insurance carrier and at first was advised not to worry as I had no direct contact but they would call their infective disease specialist. Thirty minutes later I got a call back from them and was told to get my butt to the clinic right now and they would start me on the anti rabies protocol. They informed my of the above mentioned death said they did not want to take any chances. I was given eight shot total over a three week period. Whenever I went to that clinic from then on I was known as that rabies guy. As a side note Reston Virginia has another more famous connection with deadly viruses which can be found in the beginning of the book "The Hotzone".

[@tcschenks]

My Mom told me years ago that they showed her some pretty gruesome movies of Rabies victims when she was in nursing school, so I’m kind of scared to watch this.

[@johnelliott7375]

Between you and Dr. Felton, I have to say that all history is covered and covered correctly and truthfully. God bless you all. The history guy and your family.

[@SteveD328]

Agreed.

[@HugoHugunin]

01:25 "...has the highest mortality rate..." Actually *_Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease_* has a mortality rate of 100% with the longest period before death being 10 years. 70% are dead within the first two years. The patient that I had, had bruxism so badly that she was shattering her teeth and choking on the pieces.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I was quoting WebMD. I can't vouch for them...

[@knurlgnar24]

Thanks for the tidbit of info, though I'd say context matters here. CJD is rare. It's like someone saying 'there's nothing more deadly than getting shot in the head'. And someone else comes back with "nuh uh! If a black hole swallowed the earth that'd be more deadly!" OK. I'll still say the prior statement is true in context.

[@allangibson2408]

@@knurlgnar24 People routinely survive being shot in the head… Rapid medical care is critical… Untreated Rabies has not had a survivor.

[@cindys9491]

cjd is caused by a prion, right?

[@HugoHugunin]

@@cindys9491 Yes. She [the patient] spent some time in South America, eating the local foods. One of their meals consisted of cooked monkey brains, which we assumed was the vector. In all my years dealing with multiple whack-a-doodle diseases, I've seen TB, tetanus, malaria, C/J disease, gunshots, stabbings, burns, bones broken so badly that my very last patient was T-boned by a car and his right foot was next to his right ear. But in all those years, not a single rabies. One patient was bitten by a bat and was getting shots until it was determined not to be a rabid bat. So, by my calculation, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is 100% more common than rabies. Granted, a sample size of 2 patients...😉 I also delivered 2 babies which was 2 too many. One in the front seat of a pickup truck and the other in the elavator.

[@kantemirovskaya1lightninga30]

Interesting again Lance and team! As a wildlife professional and trapper I deal with wild animals quite a bit (daily) and tried to get the vaccine-Insurance company denied it 2 years ago-despite my appeals... they figured THEY would take the risk (Shot is about $1,200) lol. I was exposed a few months later (again, about 2 years ago) and recall it was several rounds of shots (I got more than 4 in the first round) and some were described as treatment, some as future vaccine... I only know they didn't hurt too bad but were plentiful and the rounds cost just over $14,000 in total-I gleefully sent the bill to the insurance and pointed out their poor risk assessment lol. I had to smile at 6:09 in the video-I run an outdoors guild at a college-the St Hubertus Guild for outdoor skills... you yet again taught me something I did not know-thank you for that!!! (Again... lol)

[@fionafiona1146]

Sorry to hear the healthcare system failing to recognize your legitimate interests. I work in childcare in Germany and got my OBGYN to test my childhood vaccination coverage for 40€ because I wasn't pregnant and didn't plan on becoming so but hope policy is changing as a national insurance instituted coverage and expanding that is a union goal locally.

[@jean-lucpicard3012]

Such a sad way to go. The suffering an animal has to go through with rabies is terrible.

[@fennec13]

growing up in the 80s there was a rash of a dozen or so possum and raccoons coming up rabid where I grew up. The police would come out and shoot them on sight. This was in NY state and not a really rural area. So to see something like a raccoon possum or skunk or even a fox in daylight would always be a cause for alarm. If you saw one - they might be sick.

[@professorsogol5824]

Thank you for the excellent presentation and for discussing the origin of the phrase "hair of the dog." However, it would have been nice if the photo of the medical stone thought by sone to cure rabies and the bites of poisonous reptiles had included a scale so we would have some idea of its size.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I had difficulty getting any Public Domain image of a mad stone. They are not actually stones, but bezoars- calcified material found in the stomach of an animal . The image is a bezoar- but not one used as a mad stone. Mad stones varied in size, shape and color. ShelbyCountyToday.com described some stones used in Texas: “One mad stone was described as being small, flat, and of a dark gray color like slate. Another was irregular in shape, dark brown, and porous. One of the Georgetown stones was said to be about the size of a small hen egg with one end cut smooth away. Still another mad stone looked just like a chunk of common coal.”

[@rat21965]

You are amazing as always! I was not aware how deadly this is.

[@allanlank]

Toronto Canada is sometimes known as the "Raccoon Capital of the world". Ever year the Parks Department lays out vaccine laden baits to immunize raccoons, foxes, skunks, and coyotes against rabies. We have some of the healthiest wildlife anywhere.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yea, rabid Raccoon's are a problem in Pennsylvania, I've blasted more than one myself.

[@tibbar1000]

There is a really scary horror story(fictional) called Boiling Gap. My grandmother had a cousin who died from it as a child. She told us, as kids, all the gory details so that we would be terrified of the disease. It worked. Still scares me, even in fiction.

[@TamagoHead]

“Where the Red Fern Grows” terrified my childhood. Hawaii has strict quarantine rules, so no rabies🤞

[@wilee.coyote5298]

Great book.

[@TamagoHead]

@@wilee.coyote5298 There was a book? (Honestly) I saw the Disney movie. Poor ol yeller. 😟😫😩🥺

[@wilee.coyote5298]

@@TamagoHead Yes, I read it in the mid 70's. I think it was published originally in early 60's and made into a movie (didn't get opportunity to see it).

[@TamagoHead]

@@wilee.coyote5298 🤨due to some of the violence in the Roadrunner cartoons, you don’t see American Corps of Manfacturing Engineers (ACME) awareness, but it was very funny BITD to see it fail.

[@sillyone52062]

3:26 is most reminiscent of an entryway I saw at Pompeii. Below the dog is the warning "Cave Canum", also set in tile.

[@Onewheelordeal]

Whoo hoo!!!! You finally updated the website. You're the best THG, you never leave me hanging. The podcast streaming widget on the site is the only thing that lets my headphones get quiet enough to fall asleep to

[@alkberg2140]

I could sink my teeth into this episode!

[@punditgi]

The History Guy knows how to take a big bite out of fascinating history!

[@stevenmccart709]

When I was a child living in a small town in Georgia a nieghbor came to the house. Banging on the door he started yelling for my pa that there was a rabid dog up the block heading our way. He told pa to get his gun and reluctantly he grabbed his rifle , went outside and shot the dog dead with one shot from a block and a half away. I stood in shock as my pa was a lawyer and I never thought the bookish man had that in him. I looked at the neighbor in shock and he told me "Gee Scout didn't you know your pa was the best shot in town" ..😅😂

[@andrewrettig319]

I grew up in Milwaukee. The rabies case that led to the Milwaukee protocol was covered heavily in the news. The whole process was fascinating. The case could warrant an entire video.

[@montecorbit8280]

I don't remember seeing it, if you have done it, but if you have not I would like to see a video on malaria. We have mummies that have tested positive for malaria. I would also like to see Rocky mountain spot tick fever, and Lyme's disease. Lyme's disease will probably be more interesting, as it wasn't until the mid-1980s that they figured out that there was a bacteria involved. They just didn't know what was making some kids sick and Lyme county in the 1970s....

[@pyramidsong]

Fascinating video. I love when you do medical topics! Would love to see more videos on the scourges of early modern medicine which vaccination has remarkably diminished the incidence of-measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, etc

[@stabbrzmcgee825]

for some reason, 40 centuries seems way longer ago than 4000 years even if they are identical. Saying "40 centuries" hits harder, somehow.

[@concernedcitizen780]

Remember the movie “ Old Yeller”. The dog who was a main character in the movie came down with rabies.

[@danhutson3460]

When I was about 5 or 6, that would have been 1960 or 61, my family lived on Ormond St in SE Atlanta, GA. An alley separated our house from a neighbor's. One early evening we heard a dog growling & the sound came from the alley. My dad & his father went out to investigate & found a rabid dog or what they assumed to be one, as it was foaming at the mouth, making horrible sounds & shaking its head. My dad called the police & they said to go ahead & kill it. My dad took out a lugar he had brought home from his service in WWII. He told my sister & I to go to our bedroom & shut the door. He then shot that poor creature in the head & it mercifully died. When they were sure it was dead, they placed a cardboard box over it & waited until the police came. Animal control was there also & they took it to be tested for rabies & it was in fact infested with that horrible disease.

[@mattfleming86]

I noticed a ton of folks speaking about how few cases of rabies they have encountered in their life. Folks, that is because of the prolific use of the Rabies vaccine in companion animals and livestock. Vaccinate your animals. My wife is a vet, and we own a clinic. We've had to send off too many heads to the state health department because the owner "forgot" to give the rabies vaccine. Thankfully we have not encountered (personally) a pet-to-owner rabies case.. yet.. but there have been some close calls.

[@htopherollem649]

in Massachusetts, along the Cape Cod Canal which has walking/ biking pathway for most of its length there are vaccinating baits placed at intervals to inoculate the wildlife against rabies

[@jvleasure]

As part of a project to read the local newspapers from 1942 and 1943 for each day of this year (and 1944/1945 next) I was astounded at the threat rabies presented to my area. It was so bad that a militia of sorts was formed to take out any suspicious dogs in the northern part of the county, and the variety of animals that tested positive was also astounding.

[@jamesdavis8021]

Always enjoy your posts.They are fascinating.This one was no exception.Thank you.

[@tommywright7196]

Iv heard my grandpa. Tell about a man who had rabies they tied him to the bed to keep him from harming others and he had fits and chewed the sheets up before he died

[@Gen-XTex]

Rabies is an amazing disease. Sounds like a horrible way to die, although folks are pretty much out of their minds at the very end. But to make a person thirsty and at the same time, unable to drink water, reveals the horrible nature of it. 😳

[@jtgd]

All because of a bacteria that has no clue It’s killing it’s host

[@freedomloverusa3030]

I wouldn’t say amazing, but actually evil.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Actually a virus, not a bacteria.

[@goodun2974]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel The other commenter might actually be confusing rabies with tetanus, also known as lockjaw, which is a bacterial infection but has similar effects to rabies upon the nervous system. Which begs the question for everyone here, when is the last time you had a tetanus shot? The spores can lie dormant in soil for 100 years or more, and anyone who works in the trades or gardens, and everybody in general, really should have a regular tetanus shot. They're considered to be effective for 5 to 7 years at the outside, but if you are in an at risk category because of your your lifestyle or work you really should get one every 3 years. See my other comment here for what happened to several people who didn't get tetanus vaccinations.

[@memathews]

@@goodun2974 Absolutely true and I had no idea until my doctor asked me what I was doing for fun these days at a check up. I told him about enjoying working on hiking trails in our forests in my spare time. He immediately gave me a tetanus shot and made me promise to get one every 3 to 5 years. I thought he was concerned about me getting cut in told, but he was more concerned with exposure to dirt and wild animals (I also track certain fox species and wolverines for wildlife surveys). And @The History Guy did a great video on tetanus a couple of years ago-tetanus is certainly no less fun than rabies 😱

[@bradbo3]

Scary video…..1000’s of years and still no cure.

[@gwynplaine6710]

Wiped out in my country since 1922 .... ithankyouverymuch!!!!

[@frankmueller2781]

In Kansas it's the damned skunks you have to watch out for. If you see one in daylight, run.

[@marlabrunker738]

In NYC, it's mostly racoons. All the big parks (Central Park, Prospect Park, etc.) have them, and rabies is endemic to them in this area.

[@goodun2974]

@@marlabrunker738 , Same thing here in New England, it's mostly rabid raccoons, and the occasional rabid coyote or skunk.

[@YeOldeMachine]

There is a video from Walter Reed Army research hospital in the 50's that shows 29 people attacked by the same wolf, then die a horrible death while foaming from the mouth. That wolf must've been an absolute unit to bite 29 people before someone killed it, and I see absolutely how our ancestors would've thought it was supernatural

[@jamesmoss3424]

Do one on Disco Demolition Night.

[@Codoloco1]

There was a case, where I live on Vancouver Island, in 2019. The unfortunate man got bitten by an infected bat.

[@David-pd8li]

What in the world is a rabbit dog?! A dog with long ears and a twitching nose? A dog that loves carrots? We need to keep carrots around the house if we have dogs in order to get an early diagnosis. If the dog eats the carrot the dog should be dispatched immediately!

[@alaskansummertime]

I got chased by a rabid fox once. There is an experience you will never forget.

[@THEOGGUNSHOW]

@ThehistoryGuy I wish you would have also mentioned that, albeit a mutated form, rabies infected humans has become a popular impetus for the zombie genre of movies. For example: World War Z 2013, Patient 0 2018, Quarantine 2008 and Quarantine 2: Terminal, and I Am Legend 2007, Dying Light 2015 and Dying Light 2, The Passage series 2019 (vampires not zombies),I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. Thanks for another wonderful video.

[@tammysharonlorettastafford3376]

I got bitten on my rear by a dog while on my paper round.There was a mad panic to get me vaccinated and thankfully I was alright.

[@spencermarkowitz1749]

You didn't say the name! The medical college in 1996 which postulated E A Poe died of Rabies was my Alma Mater: University of Maryland! Which is located across the street, by the way, from the churchyard where Poe is buried.

[@naponroy]

THG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you do one on Laura Secord? THere are many legends and even chocolates in her honour in Canada. It'd be nice to get to the truth of the matter. (attempt 2)

[@trooperdgb9722]

For all you Texans and Californians and other SW Americans... your region ALSO has reservoirs of Bubonic Plague... (Usually carried by Prarie Dogs and other small mammals) Sounds..incredible... though NOT a huge drama these days with modern treatments available.. but fascinating nonetheless... There is a vaccine available.. I received it on the way to the Persian Gulf in late 1990..as did all Aussie personnel heading over there...

[@cachaoni]

As a curious fact, rabies is a viral disease that primarily affects mammals. The rabies virus is typically transmitted through the saliva of infected mammals, including humans, can contract and spread the virus. However, other animals like birds, reptiles, and amphibians are not known to contract rabies.

[@JV-pu8kx]

I do most of my medical research on the Mayo Clinic's Web site.

[@richardkimpel6142]

Jeanna Giese the 15 year old girl is from my hometown Fond du Lac, WI.

[@alengunnery8311]

And you better have some damn good insurance , my aunt was bit by a infected bat and the insurance refused to pay now she's stuck with a huge bill

[@nancywysemen7196]

my goodness. my niece was charged 10,000 dollars for her shots[10]. maybe i will ask her again. young person too old for her parents' health insurance.

[@TheJamesRedwood]

May I suggest a tilt down on the camera so your head is closer to the top of the frame than the bottom?

[@IBTypeR]

"those who didnt drown ... died of rabies" anyone else hear Sir Bedivere "who are you, who is wise in the ways of science?" when THG dropped that bomb lol

[@artbrann]

all hail the possum, the mammal that is effectively immune when I was about 18, my grandmother had an incident with a rabid racoon attacking her dog she managed to jab it with a pitchfork, and it crawled under my grandpa's truck, he jumped in and pushed the clutch in so it rolled down the driveway while one of us put a .22lr rifle basically point blank to the racoon the dog had to get more shots, and I an excessive amount of bleach was used to clean the gun, my boots, and a few other things just in case(lets face it bleach kills everything)

[@joelvannatta3266]

If zombie movies have taught me anything, it's that you can survive a bite(zombie or rabid animal) by quickly severing the bit limb.

[@mplsmike4023]

**not actual medical advice** :-)

[@joelvannatta3266]

@@mplsmike4023 we'll, I mean, not if you can seek medical attention, but if that isn't an option (e.g. historically), it could be a choice between losing a hand or suffering a slow, excruciating death.

[@jeanthony4003]

Dear History Guy. I really enjoyed this presentation.

[@highpath4776]

Might be worth looking at Plague too.

[@promiscuous5761]

Thank you.

[@brt-jn7kg]

I'm a retired Texas police officer. When I started my career I worked in small agencies of three to five officers. We would take advantage of 22 caliber semi-automatic pistols with suppressors we would get from the federal government and we controlled rapid skunk and rabid dogs and other animals with them. Rabies is still a big problem here in Central Texas.

[@orangevanrad8654]

Another great production. Thank you for doing this.

[@maxcorey8144]

I was bitten by a dog in Bolivia. I took five shots in the stomach and the pain was incredible. But the embassy vet looked over the dog and felt that it did not have rabies so the shots ended and I never got rabies, obviously.

[@itsapittie]

In medical school I was told that the only thing worse than getting the rabies immune globulin injections was not getting them. Despite working for many years in Oklahoma I never encountered a rabies case. I'm glad the current treatment isn't quite as bad.

[@carldawson5069]

In the early 70s ii had the 21 shot sequence. The 17th shot was where the 1st shot. VERY tender. I remember when the series was dropped to 5, then 1 shot. That kind of pain from #17 thru #21 can increase your empathy.

[@ThePrader]

As a now retired English Huntsman (Prof), WHH, one reason foxhunting was so popular in England was that fox are , or were, the primary vector of rabies hundreds of years ago. That, and they ate your chickens and ducks. A useful sport 200 years ago.

[@damiensebastian]

That was interesting to hear something from a local vet about all this

[@shakeywithlife]

I was living in Brazil on a student exchange when I was 16. I got bitten on the face by a dog one night. The dog didn't look sick but I remember having to go straight to the hospital. It was a slightly sketchy area. Out the front of the hospital where the ambulance comes in there were a bunch of guys up against the wall getting shaken up by even more officers with automatic rifles. We had to walk right past them, it scared the shit out of me. Then I got taken to a big open operating room with heaps of beds and old equipment. I was told to lay down on the filthy sheet. I looked up at the ceiling and it was sprayed with old dry blood. I can't even remember if they gave me a rabies shot haha, that was the last thing I was worried about. A year later I was in Nepal with my uncle in the middle of nowhere. He got bitten on the arm by a dog in the mountains. We had to call in a chopper to get an evac to Kathmandu. I think it cost him a small fortune but I got a free chopper ride through the Himalayas.

[@markrowland1366]

An action for a low cost and low powered automatic pistol, was named for its suitability to be used by cyclists to kill rabbid dogs, that is any dog chasing any cyclist, know commonly as velodog. Bicycle dog.