Rabies is not only contagious and
fatal, but it drove the host of the disease to insanity. And in fact, before
around 1885, almost always ended in
the person’s death. It’s a viral disease found in dogs and other mammals that
causes madness and convulsions. It’s transmissible through the saliva to
humans. In other words, a human can contract the disease from a dog bite, if
that dog has it.
Louis Pasteur worked at finding the
first rabies vaccination. He found the vaccine by harvesting samples of the
virus from rabbits that had it. He weakened the Virus by letting it dry out. He
tested his vaccine on dogs, but the first human test was July 6th of
1885. Joseph Meister had been badly mauled by a rabid dog, but the vaccine
successfully prevented him from getting the disease.
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