The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-04-03
Rabies or Hydrophobia

watching suspected or infected ami
mails.
The period of incubation is vari-
able, seldom less than two weeks nor
more than nine, six weeks being
good average.
There are two forms of the disease
in animals:
/. The furious form: Here there
is a sudden change in the disposition
Of the pet. A dog which was for
merly kind will suddenly become
cross. He tries to get into a dark
place and is then not largely excited.
Soon he becomes restless. He runs
about aimlessly, appears to be delir-
Gus and will utter a peculiar drawn
out, wailing bark. His jaws will not
completely close. In attempting to
feed he seems to have great difficulty.
Soon the excitement will become more
marked, he will run usually in a
straight line, often for long distances
away from home and will bite any,
thing in his way. From this period
Of excitement he will pass into the
paralytic stage, which first effects the
hind legs, then the fore limbs and as
the muscles of respiration become af-
fected, death ensues.
2. The dumb form: Here the
signs of excitement are wanting. TIL;
form makes up about 20 per cent OF
the total number of cases. The dog
will crawl into a dark corner and on
attempting to feed him it is found
that he will chew his food but is I'M
able to swallow, because of paralysis
of the throat muscles. The paraly-
sis precedes and death ensues in
about a week.
Management of Suspected Dog.
When a dog is reported mad as
complete history as possible should
be obtained. Ascertain whether this
dog had been bitten previously by
some other dog which may have been
mad. How long has he acted strange
ly? The names of the people bitten,
etc. DO NOT KILL THE DOG. He
should be locked up either by the
owner or better still turned over to
the veterinarian for observation. If
he has rabies he will likely die with
in week and examination can then
be made Immediately and bitten per-
sons can be treated in plenty of time
to prevent the disease.
After death send the head packed
in ice to the Pasteur Institute, State
University, Minneapolis, and notify
DR.. Mcdaniel at the above institu-
ton when it is shipped, giving all in
formation that has been gathered con-
corning the dog. At the University
the examinations will be made and
bitten persons Immediately notified
and advised as to treatment.
Treatment:
Local: In case of a dog bite al
ways consult your family physician as
soon as possible.
General: After the symptoms of
actual rabies have presented them
selves there is no treatment which
can prevent death. Therefore it is
imperative that the ePasteur preven-
tative treatment be instituted as soon
as rabies has been diagnosed O. is
strongly suspected in the dog.
Prophylactic: This consists of
hypodermic injections of. particles of
the dried spinal cord Of rabbits which
were infected with rabies. Pasteur
found that by removing the cords of
rabbits at different periods after in
lection and then drying them over
caustic potash that the virus would
become weakened. When patient
presents himself for treatment against
rabies he is first injected with
very much weakened preparation.
From day to day the strength of the
injection is increased until 81 injec-
tions have been given. After this
treatment it has been found that the
individual cannot become infected
with rabies for some time.
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