The cost of rabies worldwide Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. Rabies virus infects the central nervous system, causing encephalopathy and ultimately death. Early symptoms of rabies in humans are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and general malaise.
Death usually occurs within days of the onset of symptoms.
Public health importance of rabies Over the last 100 years, rabies in the United States has changed dramatically. The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 annually at the turn of the century to one or two per year in the1990's. In the United States, human fatalities associated with rabies occur in people who fail to seek medical assistance, usually because they were unaware of their exposure. Accurate estimates of these expenditures are not available. Although the number of PEPs given in the United States each year is unknown, it is estimated to be about 40,000.