Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal to animals as well as humans and there is no cure for it. In the natural course of the human disease the first symptoms are usually non-specific and suggest involvement of the respiratory, gastrointestinal or central nervous systems. In both furious and dumb rabies, paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to respiratory failure.
Death occurs during the first seven days of illness without intensive care.
Incidence Reliable data on rabies are scarce in many areas of the globe, making it difficult to assess its full impact on human and animal health. An estimated 10 million people receive post-exposure treatments each year after being exposed to rabies suspect animals. With the help of this technique rabies should eventually be eliminated from its terrestrial reservoirs in Western Europe, possibly by the end of the decade. Dramatic decreases in human cases of rabies have also been reported during recent years in China, Thailand and Sri Lanka following implementation of programmes for improved post-exposure treatment of humans and the vaccination of dogs. By contrast, in most countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America dogs continue to be the main hosts and are responsible for most of the rabies deaths that occur worldwide.