Symptoms usually develop between 20 and 60 days after exposure. Rabid animals may become aggressive, combative, and highly sensitive to touch and other kinds of stimulation. And they can be vicious. In both kinds of animal rabies, death occurs a few days after symptoms appear, usually from respiratory failure. In humans the course is similar.
Patients become excited, anxious, and irritable.
They may complain of insomnia or depression. But they had some major misconceptions about it. A Roman scholar, Celsus, apparently more perceptive than Aristotle, recognized that people were susceptible to the disease. But, like others before and after him, Celsus thought human rabies could be cured, and he offered advice on how to treat it. Among other things, Celsus advocated holding victims under water both to relieve thirst and overcome hydrophobia.