Why Doesn't Britain Have Rabies?

tomscott.com - tomscott - In 1993, the New York Times called rabies a "shared national nightmare" for Britain. For younger viewers, and those outside the UK -- say anyone who doesn't remember the Channel Tunnel opening -- "rabies" may just be one of those things you hear about on the news sometimes. But there are a lot of people who are proud of Britain being free of it. Here's why.
I'm indebted to Pemberton and Worboys' wonderful "Mad Dogs and Englishmen: Rabies in Britain 1830-2000" - amzn.to/1xr1x2B - for a lot of fact-checking here, as well as inspiration. It turns out this is a properly fascinating subject: I had to cut so many fascinating things out of my script. (A five-minute monologue to camera on a windy beach isn't interesting.) I recommend you at least get the book from your local library. For example...
FACT: The requirement for muzzling dogs extended to tiny, tame lapdogs, but not to "sporting" dogs, those used for hunting -- because the men writing the laws didn't want to muzzle their own dogs. (Their dogs were upper class, manly dogs, how could they be rabid?)
FACT: The first ever human vaccine was created for rabies, by Louis Pasteur -- the medical genius who gave his name to pasteurisation, among many other things. If you're at risk these days, you can get vaccinated: but it's not given as standard in the UK, because, hey, we don't have rabies -- and it's a better idea to vaccinate the animals that might carry it.
FACT: Before the EU pet travel scheme came into force in 2000, any animal coming into the UK had to be quarantined -- completely separated from its owners and other animals -- for three months to be sure it wasn't rabid. Not many people took their pets overseas.
Seriously, I got really absorbed in researching this. Further reading:
"How Britain's Rabid Obsession Has Altered the Channel Tunnel", New York Times, 1993, www.nytimes.com/1993/12/10/news/10iht-rabid.html
and another plug for "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", amzn.to/1xr1x2B

[@IzabelaSSilva]

"isolation and strong quarantine measures" isn't a sentence that aged well

[@kathrinehmunk]

Yikes

[@redpanda5389]

well, it actually kind of has, wear masks and wash your hands, Americans

[@macman975]

We're going to be screwed when dog's start flying planes

[@ImRandomDude]

Humans, especially those from "free" countries are terribly bad at following restrictions. They would hapily enforce any (for example) anti rabies limitations, but god dare to say "stay home and distance for a month"

[@Bubu567]

Maybe if you believe it's all BS. Isolation and strong quarantine measures HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CURE. I wish covid preferentially killed those idiots.

[@Azmythometre]

2014: You won't die from a bat virus 2020: Hold my corona

[@sysbofh]

Well, this time WE bit the bat. Don't we?

[@RealZynexx]

Marcelo Rodrigues nice

[@nizarch22]

@@sysbofh You bite the bat and the bat bites back

[@OrangeC7]

@@nizarch22 Try saying that 5 times fast

[@simonnaughton2272]

Gold comment

[@elmohead]

Australia doesn't have rabies either, maybe because rabies were too scared to come here.

[@TheFishCostume]

+elmohead I would be terrified of Australia if I was rabies.

[@KhanggiTanka]

+elmohead oh yes you do have rabies in Australia as Aussy you must have heard of drop bears right. they are those koala's you have there but with rabies

[@sjnm4944]

+elmohead I think it's all the spiders...

[@xihangyang]

+elmohead it because johnny depp dogs are not allow to enter your shitty country.

[@mercybellafiore3677]

Anything that doesn't already live there should be terrified of Australia.

[@dumamou]

At the age of eight I was bitten by a rat. We didn't catch the rat. I was then subjected, because Mexico had a rabies problem at the time, to 14 of the most mind numbingly painful injections (they actually pierce your abdomenal muscles and inject it into the stomach) you can imagine. The very idea of them still makes me shiver, and I'm 67 now. Keep up the war on rabies folks....believe me, its worth it to keep a child from that sort of horror.

[@RealJGII]

Martin Fontenot sorry to hear you experienced that, hope all is well

[@notar2123]

yup, those are the old serum injections. The modern ones are taken the same way as any vaccine and are, thank God, far less painful.

[@System-ru5yt]

that sounds fun

[@Chraan]

You are probably aware of it, but think of this pain you had in the past as a good feeling. It is still less painful than what you would have experienced, and you wouldn't have been able to grow old.

[@marcelkrebes2337]

Sounds to me everything would have been fine without the treatment. I'm sure these 14!! injections can hardly have any sideeffects.

[@MrJacobThrall]

When the Channel Tunnel was being built back in the 80s - and was still being called the "Chunnel" - there was a significant degree of grumbling that a physical link to mainland Europe would put Britain at a risk of rabies. Because of course there were hordes of rabid hounds marauding round Calais, waiting to flood through the bores, spreading a foaming-mouthed plague of fatal savagery through Kent and immediately on across the rest of the island.

[@daerdevvyl4314]

Britain may be a bit paranoid about rabies, but it’s not a bad thing to be fearful of. Rabies is hell on earth for any infected animal.

[@BryanTorok]

How about a physical tunnel allowing rats or other vermin to get from one country to another? Rats have traveled on ships and spread disease.

[@gabrielgarcia9822]

@@BryanTorok How many rats survived a animal bite with rabies?

[@virtualcircuit]

I've got an old tunnel poster from the times newspaper and it says they installed high voltage plates within the entrance to both ends of the tunnel that would prevent animals from entering the tunnel (such as rats etc).

[@beaker2257]

I remember the debate. There was talk of marksmen guarding the entrances to the two tunnels ready to pop off any wild animals that made it through. This did reassure some of us.

[@gaprilis]

2014: Britons being proud of controlling a virus. 2020: Directed by Robert B. Weide.

[@jenniferchaulam]

/i can almost hear what sound it makes

[@91lilken]

Has Britain not done well with this virus?

[@theslightlyhillyrider969]

@Chip Wiseman well we are better than the us, having a leader who at least did something. Also we aren't experiencing an enormous second spike and record unemployment

[@theslightlyhillyrider969]

@Chip Wiseman oh for sure. I'm just saying the us seems to be having more problems than we are on a larger scale too

[@copperrose4376]

Chip Wiseman I agree it’s terrifying how cases are rising however I live in Scotland where we have been without deaths for a while so if we don’t start opening stuff again now there will be more job losses and unemployment will cause just as large of a problem as the virus did and schools need to re open so that kids can get educated and teachers cleaners lunch lady’s and more have a job to come back to schools are more than just teaching they buy technology to better educate there kids they buy art equipment they buy pencils pens paper jotters rubbers folders books and so many things that if they didn’t open that would create a problem spanning generations I agree things should be safe like my school has told us we don’t need to wear masks and that social distancing will be “encouraged” with the older years and that’s not enough but what would cause a problem is the fact that kids won’t be able to get into uni as there grades slipped creating less of the jobs we need how are we supposed to get doctors nurses teachers scientists if nobody is qualified then the nhs that has helped Britain throughout this entire thing won’t be able to cope with a normal amount of patients never mind if there is another pandemic what we need to do is balance the problems of today and the thoughts of tomorrow

[@clementpanda9333]

Me, a french native: doesn't know what rabies is and start googling quickly Tom: "In French, la rage" Well, thanks Tom :)

[@bryanu1737]

Salut

[@shantamshome6420]

Konichiwa

[@Gussyboy06]

Guten tag

[@sirgarypeters684]

Namaste

[@aliveslice]

Здравствуйте

[@13939014402]

I misread the title as "rabbits" and I was like I am so sorry for u British people.

[@flootzavut]

Sadly, I am highly allergic to rabbits, and I'm more likely to be killed by rabbits than rabies.

[@aar3604]

Tittle don't you mean title

[@bxdanny]

At least you didn't think it said "rabbis".

[@NuisanceMan]

@@flootzavut Like that one in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"?

[@hotelmario510]

Plenty of those buggers around.

[@Allan003]

Very interesting. I live in the Canadian province of Alberta, it is one of the only places in the world without rats. We even have a "Rat Patrol" of sorts that responds to possible rat sightings. It sounds silly, and maybe it is to some extent. However it saves Millions of dollars a year in damages caused by rats. Plus it is nice to not have to worry about having rats in my house! :)

[@NoriMori1992]

That is so weird. Do you mean the entire province doesn't have rats? If so, that's amazing! And as an Ontarian I can't believe I never knew that before!

[@chevtothemax]

NoriMori well obviously it's not total, there are rats but the number are so low as to be non existent and there are even less in populated areas.

[@czer0]

Allan003 Ahh yes "rat free". Lulz

[@NilsAlbertsson]

*Rats are EVERYWHERE in the world (except Antarctica... and even there, occasionally they do) and if you think you don't have them, you're pissed, blind, or stupid.*

[@hellterminator]

For some reason I read rabies as rabbis. I was very confused.

[@johnmctavish1651]

did you misread britain as germany too?

[@justclosing]

+hellterminator I thought it had something to do with Jews

[@colinp2238]

+Mike Rourke Go to Golders Green in London there's lots there

[@MJ-cq6gz]

Disclaimer: puppers are for illustration purposes only and aren't actually rabbinical.

[@VenueVideoUK]

hellterminator Na, Cromwell let them back in 😂😂

[@dodsg]

The '80s TV series "The Mad Death" probably played a big part in reinvigorating British fear of rabies. I can still remember some of the scenes of the deaths of the infected and how I treated unfamiliar dogs with suspicion after that. Must see if I can get hold of a copy of it again.

[@waza987]

Watch a video about Rabies, get KZbin serving an ad for pet cremations

[@georgefolyd]

Doesn't get ads, because using uBlock Origin on Firefox

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

Not with an ad blocker browser on Android you don't.

[@renardmigrant]

The French word rage actually comes from the Latin rabies; English borrowed the word wholesale from Latin, while the French just used the inherited word 'rage'. So you could just as easily mention the root of the English word rather than the French one.

[@Chraan]

Good point, also I don't see why French was relevant, as we call that the same in Germany and it's probably the same in many other languages

[@nyx7937]

IIRC in Spanish you say "Rabia" for rage, so it checks out

[@sysbofh]

@@nyx7937 Same for portuguese: we say "raiva" for "rage". Exactly the same thing.

[@thriceandonce]

@@Chraan eh? We use "Tollwut" here I thought, completely different word

[@Chraan]

@@thriceandonce Which means rage.

[@DaL33T5]

From the US. I was actually surprised to learn that there are countries that *don't* have rabies. I just assumed it was a problem everywhere.

[@Immerayon]

It's much like poison ivy in a way then isn't it?

[@westernfont2308]

@@Immerayon wait hold up... do some countries also not have poison ivy? Damnit why are other countries so safe.

[@Immerayon]

@@westernfont2308 Because not all countries are as big, and don't have as many threats within a smaller area.

[@woolwarian]

DaL33T5 Hawaii doesn't have rabies

[@Tinfoil-xp6bw]

EmeraldSnowman hawaii isn’t a country

[@camerachica73]

Growing up in the UK in the 70s and 80s I remember seeing the dreaded Rabies posters a lot with a scary dog on it. There was also a TV series called The Mad Death and I probably shouldn't have watched it as a child, as even the front credits scared me silly. Rabies was always thought of as this terrible thing that was just over the Channel.

[@thetravelinghermit]

Ooooh, I know why! Ozzy took care of all those bats onstage!

[@colinp2238]

+thetravelinghermit That's where the bat rabies comes from

[@joshuahadams]

+colinp2238 From Ozzy?

[@colinp2238]

***** yup

[@metalswifty23]

He didn't do a good enough job

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

"Dogs purely for illustrative purposes. Not actually rabid." Oh my giddy aunt. I chortled, yes I did.

[@jeffwalker7185]

I absolutely love these 'things you might not know' video's. They are well informed, interesting and very well presented.

[@macbuff81]

In German it is called "Tollwut" meaning essentially the same as "The Rage." The direct translation would "Wild Anger"

[@Jorvard]

Or mad anger. See also: Das Tollhaus, the madhouse.

So... there is a tame anger?

[@julzbehr6696]

You can also vaccinate against it.

[@jblen]

Ah, that's why I've never seen any dogs with rabies except on TV and such. I thought it was just one of those things like quicksand that were overplayed and not really even a threat unless you just get really unlucky.

[@Oberon4278]

It is in fact overplayed and not really a threat unless you get really unlucky. I think maybe the Brits are a bit more concerned about rabies than is really warranted.

[@retrauk]

I live in Alberta, Canada. A province that regularly prides ourselves on entirely removing an honestly rather minor threat. Rats. This is especially impressive when you consider that we're a landlocked province, and rats exist in every single other province in the country. Obviously the occasional rat does show up, but they are always quickly dealt with by "rat patrols" that control any rats that may happen to get into the province.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

I just saw a thing on that. I know it's been a while, but the rats are losing. Cameras and wicked traps and peanut butter machines and so many volunteers.

[@ROBwithaB]

I was about to suggest that you do a video on the exceptions to the "Rabies will cause you indescribable agony, and then kill you" narrative, but I just noticed that there's a link in the suggested videos to a doccie entitled *"The Girl Who Survived Rabies"*. So yeah, your odds of survival are minute, but it is doable. I have seen someone infected with rabies (here in South Africa). Truly terrifying. All I can say is that the "irrational fear" of rabies is perfectly rational and justified.

[@hens0w]

please note the use of "The"

[@ROBwithaB]

hens0w Yeah. The odds of survival are minute. But there have been a few documented cases. And it is likely that there would have been a few more over the years that didn't get documented. Rabies is effectively 100% fatal. Which is why the survival stories are so interesting.

[@ROBwithaB]

hens0w Although, we're looking at this from a comfortable First World perspective. One could predict that, in places where rabies is endemic, it is likely that populations who have co-existed with the pathogen for long periods will have achieved some level of immunity.

[@thewuurm]

hens0w To date there have been 5 people recorded to survive rabies without vaccination prior to onset of symptoms. All were treated under either the first or second version of the Milwaukee protocol. The documentary referenced simply covers the case of Jenna Giese, the first person to both survive and receive the experimental treatment, a combination of a chemically-induced coma and antivirals. Thus far the protocol has a survival rate of about 20%, which isn't exactly great, but it's better than it used to be. Edit: I've actually found a sixth possible case from Texas, in 2009. The patient got sick a bit over a span of around a month, was eventually tentatively diagnosed as having been exposed to rabies, and was treated with the vaccine - though by the time the doctors did that there was no evidence of live virus in the patient. If she was exposed to rabies, she apparently kicked it on her own with not much more than a month of feeling godawful.

[@Huskasin]

thewuurm How common is something like that? For someone to recover from having rabies without showing late stage symptoms?

[@manchesterqueen1]

Thanks Tom, even this short video has been helpful for my EPQ essay, on controlling the spread of rabies, as well as bovine TB, in the UK. I remembered about this back in September, when I started writing the essay, and have wanted to weave it in somehow.

[@TheAnonymmynona]

I am from Germany an was taught to avoid wild animals that don't fear humans and or have foam around the mouth but i haven't heard of anyone getting rabies so it seems to be rare

[@Just.Kidding]

>it seems to be rare It kills 59,000 people a year. People still get it.

[@philprice5712]

Tome, you didn't mention that it was once called hydrophobia- while standing by the sea no less.

[@KoyasuNoBara]

They have (or had) the quarantine thing mentioned in the description in Hawaii, too, only it is/was 6 months. When my mother was a little girl, my grandfather (who was in the US Navy) got stationed in Hawaii. They gave their dog away, rather than risk having it die in quarantine, which (at least in those days) was a very real risk. If they still have the quarantine, the hopefully conditions have gotten better.

[@AtarahDerek]

I believe it's now two months for fully vaccinated cats, dogs and ferrets. Not that ferrets need to be out anyway. And there are very strict laws about allowing cats outdoors or dogs to run unattended.

[@Boom2219]

I check your videos, as your video is uploaded. Great upload. Thank you

[@CallmeBigfat]

The editing is always spot on with these Videos

[@Eye_Can_Fly]

If only the odds of biting a bat were almost zero...

[@HiddeWinter]

Have you ever tried mid air bat biting, it is really hard

[@Eye_Can_Fly]

@@HiddeWinter I haven't tried that yet but I'll give it a go

[@FlatlandsSurvivor]

@@Eye_Can_Fly Please do not, is one disease not enough

[@MMR_LM]

We do have rabies. Over here they're called Croydon.

[@MrEpicFailz1337]

Ouch...

[@joebleasdale5557]

I live in Bromley. You're not wrong.

[@aestheticgarbage6671]

Oof. At least they're better than Peckham.

[@gmddeathangel3008]

@@aestheticgarbage6671 completely agree

[@hmmm9658]

best to just bulldoze the whole of croydon and start again

[@AtarahDerek]

1. If rabies were wiped out in the UK, vaccination wouldn't still be required for pets originating in the UK. 2. *Common* rabies may be wiped out or practically nonexistent in the UK, but other lyssaviruses DO occur there because they are endemic to Europe. And these lyssaviruses are not well understood, so the chance that they could jump from bats to other species still exists. Thankfully, most lyssaviruses are prevented by the same vaccine regimens used for common rabies. 3. Bat bites and scratches can still happen. If they do, you NEED to get vaccinated. People who work with bats are required to have pre-exposure vaccines, after all. 4. They said rabies didn't exist in Australia either. And then, in 1996, two people died from it. The culprit was Australian bat lyssavirus, which is endemic to that continent. But there is no clinical difference between it and common rabies.

[@TheEarthHistorysConfusing]

I think henrea virus is similar too.

[@ctlclarke]

Another interesting video. Thanks for the upload

[@SonGayku]

Rabies is scary asf. The second you have symptoms you're already dead, it's got to your brain and there's nothing you can do but suffer.

[@Maxid1]

So I haven't been wasting my time teaching rabid dogs to sky dive.

[@alexroberts8755]

Great vid Tom. And I did read the description.

[@Z3N1TY0]

“England doesn’t have rabies” *PACK YOUR BAGS. WERE MOVING*

[@Croz89]

RE Fact No.3, I guess that might explain why Britain has a large amount of kennels, catteries, and pet-sitting services. Even today I think it's pretty rare for pets to be taken abroad by plane, probably because of the cost more than anything nowadays though.

[@Hamburger20105]

That line about the virus from bats is a little ironic now huh

[@coffee5592]

You're great Tom!

[@ThreadBomb]

Yet another video that strikes an eerie chord in 2020.

[@natehocks9642]

Not so sure about those "strong quarantine measure"

[@kathrinehmunk]

Well....

[@nullvoid564]

@@kathrinehmunk they didn't even shut down most businesses to make people loose jobs or even take away their school meals

[@roy4567]

I had to run away from a rabid dog one time. It's crazy how fast you can go when you're running for your life haha. Maybe I'll move over there someday, I'd rather not like to run for my life again.

[@boxinabox6608]

Don't

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

that's some warm sunny beach you got there.

[@numbereightyseven]

Well, y'know, it being summer, 'n all ...

[@justintrovrt494]

Just another great thing to add to the tourist brochures.

[@auggieaugbourn4788]

When i was a kid i lived in rural Canada. A kid in the next village brought a kitten to school for show and tell. Turns out the cat was rabid and every kid in the school got rabies shots. Rabies used to be rampant here but through vaccination of pets and dropping of vaccinated baits in the bush its under control but not eradicated.

[@Harmless69]

I had to have rabies shot (3) during last years lock down when a bat flew into my house and I rescued it without gloves and I hand fed it. Hospital insisted that I have the vaccine!

[@dogwithwigwamz.7320]

I think that there is a very low incidence of the European Lyssavirus in the UK bat population. If I remember correctly a conservationist contracted rabies ( caused by the Lyssavirus ) after being bitten whilstexploring some caves in Scotland. Also, a dead bat was found lying in the street of a city in south - east England a few years ago and it was shown that it, too, had rabies.

[@froniccruxis1049]

I like the editing done in this video, especially the citation on the bottom. Rabbies is still a very real scare in the US but nobody is up in arms about it, mostly(with some rare exceptions) wild animals have them nowadays.

[@Pfooh]

The Netherlands, without clear borders, with massive inflow and outflow of goods, people and animals, is free of rabies for the last ~30 years as well. The only two confirmed cases of rabies during that time were acquired in Africa. In the UK, rabies was acquired on UK soil by transmission from a bat in 2002.

[@THISISMYNAMETHINGYY]

I thought the title was "Babies" and that everyone was calling the babies rabies

[@applegurrll]

Aaah if only a lesson was learned like this to be put into practice in the case of other terrifying diseases....

[@mimimarcus]

I like Tom's voice… deep, warm, and manly. He can whisper anything in me ears and I'd say yes. Hehe

[@yfiles700]

Can't say the same about Coronavirus, every place has it

[@stinkingooze]

Rabies doesn't get what all the madness is about.

[@martinebonita2658]

Rabies is literally my worst fear. It's irrational I know, but... God it's terrifying.

[@Tudvari]

In Hungarian it's called "veszettség". Which literally means the state of being "lost, hopeless, condemned (ruined or destroyed, past help or hope)" (Wiktionary)

[@nefariou5]

"dogs purely for illustrative purposes. Not actually rabid" - video of dogs playing with a little ball. 1:48 this took me by surprise and made me laugh

[@RadagonTheRed]

This I DID know, because I have been fortunate enough to work in my field of interest in infectious disease research. We have several samples in storage and they are nicknamed “rage” partly after the French but partly in homage to 28 Days Later. I would like to point out that we have NEVER infected chimpanzees for the purpose of research, not any other primates.

[@RoScFan]

Here in romania I think we have rabies and tuberculosis. At least, I think we do, I'm not sure If they are here, they are rare.. But somehow i doubt we've eliminated them completely. Always sucks to see other countries progressing while mine lags behind...

[@Ben123466789]

RoScFan at least you have the worlds largest parliament building

[@RoScFan]

Ben Sweeney Haha. It actually would be nice to have if the roof was publicly accesible. Great views, that kind of thing.

[@NoriMori1992]

I actually didn't know Britain doesn't have rabies, so I'm like, "Oh, doesn't it?"

[@alden5931]

I was bitten by a dog and its owners got away, so I never was able to make sure it had gotten its shots, so I went through the rabies vaccination process (stitches for the bite, a shot in the wound (not sure if it was even for rabies, but it hurt and I did get something for rabies in the hospital), then a shot every week for 4 weeks.

[@alden5931]

But I am vaccinated against rabies for forever, I think. Not that I would brush it off were I bitten by a rabid animal or one that didn't get its shots (or if the same thing happened to me again).

[@AngryKittens]

I live in a country where hundreds of people still die to rabies every year. Mainly due to bats spreading it to other animals. I've always been paranoid about it. I got immunized as soon as I could.

[@danielbell99]

Good for you getting that treatment

[@dors.sc1]

what are you talking about? the vaccine is only effective after a bite

[@AngryKittens]

dor No actually. Preexposure rabies vaccination sort of "primes" your immune system so that later rabies infections are easier to deal with. It grants immunity for around 10 years (and in very rare cases - life-long). But yes, everyone, even those previously vaccinated, still NEED booster shots if they ever get bitten (postexposure vaccines), immediately after a bite, just to make sure. When it comes to rabies, you can't take any chances.

[@dors.sc1]

Angreh Kittunz where did you learn this?

[@AngryKittens]

dor The doctor? Jeez. Have you really never heard of preexposure rabies prophylaxis before? Google it please. If you're in a rabies-free country, if ever you travel, you will sometimes get it with your immunization cocktails. Veterinarians or those working with animals get it regularly. It CAN protect you against unrecognized rabies exposure. See: www.cdc.gov/rabies/specific_groups/travelers/pre-exposure_vaccinations.html www.who.int/ith/vaccines/rabies/en/ www.in.gov/boah/2502.htm

[@uruiamnot]

95 years of isolation... and needless fear. Welcome to Britain.

[@James_BAlert]

I'm surprised under Tom the presenter the following disclaimer didn't appear "Presenter purely for illustrative purposes, NOT actually rabid! "! 😝

[@jetsflyingoffatrain4338]

Holy heck, I had no idea what rabies was but now I'm terrified at every little ache in my body even though I live in the UK

[@4louisMC]

I read babies and got worried...

[@scsutton1]

Yep, KZbin really does have a sick sense of humour these days.

[@ShanSubedi]

😂😂

[@larryshere2422]

Errr, I live near a dock (in Barry!) and theres a sign there saying about rabies with lists of prohibited animals O_O

[@VicvicW]

There was an incredible thing a while back on the bbc, and it was set as though rabies had gone rampant. Does anyone remember what it was called? It followed this one guy on his own in this military compound and he had to shoot animals on sight. There was a creepy broadcast system. It's a shame I can't remember the name.

[@Geokinkladze]

The Mad Death?

[@JunaidAxmed]

Tom: I mean, there are a few bat diseases, but who's gonna get bitten by a bat. China: 🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@giorgisofficial9156]

Well china bit the bat. That's what i call Uno Reverse Card

[@Noah-gp4ml]

Shame that the UK government didn’t have the same quick response to Covid.

[@348joey]

If only they'd shot anyone with the notorious foaming Covid mouths. I don't think there was anything they could've done, other than not panic and lock down the country needlessly and then lie about how many people died from it.

[@walterthecat2145]

Kill the people who have covid

[@kkmac7247]

@@348joey Lockdown earlier or ^^^

[@themadplotter]

Just to add some culture to this, Byron’s favourite dog, Boatswain would regularly follow the postboy to Mansfield and it was on such a trip that he was bitten by a rabid dog and contracted rabies. Byron wrote to his friend, Francis Hodgson: “Boatswain is dead! He expired in a state of madness on the 10th, after suffering much, yet retaining all the gentleness of his nature to the last, never attempting to do the least injury to anyone.” I'm not sure what this adds but it's sad and its sweet and I want one.

[@timpauwels3734]

Is that why there are so many foxes in the UK? They’re a rare sight in the wild on the Continent, while in the UK groups of them raid bins in London.

[@vickymc9695]

I spent 4 hours once trying to explain that we don't have rabies to my flatmate from Hong Kong.

[@mr.gentlezombie8709]

Myth: Only three people die from rabbies every year in the US. Fact: It’s four!

[@Phroggster]

One to three deaths per year, thank you very much. 18 domestic cases in total appeared from 2009 to 2018, plus another seven that were acquired out of country and brought back. One, well two, of those were discovered because someone had donated an otherwise helpful organ to someone else, only for the recipient to turn rabid five years later. Every... Single... One... Of... Them... Died...

[@alexandraroe2554]

this video aged like a fine wine

[@PASCHDigiMedia]

Tom Scott is the new face of Public Information Films. Please tell us why British telephones sound off twice per cycle?

[@billgreen576]

One of the advantages of being an island is it helps you in keeping contagions at bay.........unless you have a really foolish PM and an equally incompetent cabinet.

[@TristanSplunge]

Holy shit, you filmed this at my local beach!

[@wheresmychippy]

This is a pertinent video in 2021

[@WeaselKing1000]

Not just busy harbours, either. Go to Cornwall for example - just about anywhere you can land a boat, even a stone jetty in the middle of nowhere, will have a rabies sign in multiple languages.

[@stephenolan5539]

There are no rats in Alberta Canada. And they intend on keeping it that way.

[@sultanofsick]

It's a good thing we learned from mistakes and never wildly overreacted to a blown out of proportion health threat again.

[@lostielizzie]

Honestly wish more people took illnesses seriously, no one in my area even acknowledges most pathogens as anything other than a slight inconvenience most of the time.

[@cremdilly7176]

@@lostielizzie Most pathogens ARE only a slight inconvenience.

[@SA77888]

1:06 Hmm, my google search suggest there was a Rabies death in UK in 2002. An vaccinated bat conservationist caught the disease and was not treated with post exposure treatment. Perhaps by "British animal", you mean pet.

[@joelthomas1585]

Absolutely classic Sunday Express. When they’re not reporting on a ‘national health crisis’ there is some terrible storm on its way.

[@zenjr1004]

Man you people have a nice accent.

[@legoyoda256]

Bit from a bat Isolation and quarantine This video has aged very very very poorly

[@Nekiplex]

1:15. We didn't get around it tom. Its here. And its everywhere

Uruguay (a tiny pillow-shaped country between Brazil & Argentine) doesn't have rabies either. But it's being so for so long (over a century) that people is starting to get too relaxed about it. Which is bad because neighbouring countries do have rabies. However, if someone gets biten by an unknown dog or some animal that normally doesn't bite (like a rabbit), they're sent in an ambulance to a major hospital and vaccinated. It's annoying but better than getting rabid. I don't know what happens with pets coming from the neighbouring countries, I don't think they go to quarantine.

[@jasondownsnet]

Sounds like the overreaction to Ebola today. Yes, people overreact, but precautions put in place by the overreaction actually prevents it from becoming a major catastrophe.

[@rootabeta9015]

oh buddy, just wait till you find out what happens in 2020!

[@jasondownsnet]

@@rootabeta9015 so did my comment age well???

[@rootabeta9015]

@@jasondownsnet "but precautions put in place by the overreaction actually prevents it from becoming a major catastrophe." *cut to people panicking, hoarding TP, and no testing or control measures in sight for over a month now*...uh... sure... sure it did

[@WildBluntHickok]

@@rootabeta9015 Now there's widespread pandemic deniers. "Oh it's just this year's strain of the common flu."

[@raniawebber2007]

aah, bats, they never caused any problems

[@EvolvingLark]

1:16 "Rabies in bats" Now I see why KZbin is showing me this video in 2021

[@topilinkala1594]

Finland is not an island but still there no salmonella in Finland. It does not travel well through the north (too cold) or east (too forested) so we have managed to keep it that way. Once in while some chicken farmer gets an outbreak and the whole henhouse with the animals in is burned down. That's the law and that's the way it should be. Because what it means that if you want salmonella free chickens you buy the eggs from Finland. And that is good business.

[@Porygonal64]

The US once was free of Bed Bugs... Look what happened.

[@sshep86]

This aged like my UHT milk. For a while it was fine, but eventually it smelt like a dead grandma.

[@shimsh5623]

Rabies is scarier than COVID to me.

[@alcarbo8613]

In the U.S we have so many different animals that can give you Rabies it’s just excepted as a normal risk like Salmonella or Tetanus, as a result people don’t really care that much about it or talk about

[@joeybroda9167]

On the same line, you should do a video about how Alberta, Canada eradicated the rat.

[@em_bby5317]

Me hearing the bat comment in 2020 lockdown 🦠🦠🦠

[@yoshi9358]

Turns out the bats were the biggest threat

[@angelog4150]

Also Hawaii (an island state) doesn't have rabies

[@justclosing]

Does it have any dogs?

[@angelog4150]

Mike Rourke also the dogs born here are required to be vaccinated.

[@kn0bhe4d]

Can we have more of those illustrative dogs please?

[@useresu301]

the location you chose to shoot is not noisy enough - I can still hear you