Rabia: încă o provocare pentru medicina veterinară și umană?

Rabies remains a difficult problem worlwide being one of the oldest viral zoonoses known by man. It is a disease which evolves on all continents, except Antarctica and it is estimated that every year around 70.000 peoples die because of it, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. All species of warm blooded animals are susceptible to infection with rabies virus, however, only a few of them represent an important reservoir of the disease, depending also on the geographic regions. The virus is found in the saliva of the infected animals, and its transmission is occuring  mostly directly through the bite or scratch, these being more dangerous as they are located closer to the central nervous system and in a highly innervated region.   Although it is a fatal disease in 99,9% of cases, it can be prevented 100% by vaccination. Oral rabies vaccination programs of foxes represents the main method to control and eradicate this disease, along with rabies vaccination in dogs and cats, considering the fact that there is no cure for this terrible disease.