Rabies

RHABDO VIRUSES
• (rhabdo, meaning rods)
• Hydrophobia
RHABDO VIRUSES
• Rhabdoviruses infecting mammals belong to
two genera.
• 1. Vesiculo virus: Virus which cause disease
vesicular stomatitis. The disease is prevalent
among horses, cattle and pig in the Americas.
• 2. Lyssavirus: (Greek, Lyssa meaning madness)
Lyssavirus containing rabies virus and related
viruses.
Rabies
• L: Rabidus= mad
• Rabies is a zoonotic disease of warm

blooded animals carnivorous
Morphology
Street viruses Fixed viruses

Street virus and Fixed virus
Street viruses Fixed viruses
Freshly isolated Isolated after serial intracerebral

passage in rabbits
Produce Negri body Do not produce Negri body
Affect salivary glands Do not affect salivary glands
Incubation period 1-3 months Incubation period 4-6 days

(20-90 days)
Produce disease Used for vaccine
Antigenic structure
• Glycoprotein (G protein): acetyl choline
•
• M protein
• Haemagglutinatinin (HA): Rabies virus

possesses haemagglutinating activity,
optimally seen with goose erythrocytes
at 0-4°C at Ph 6.2.
Mode of transmission
Incubation period
• The incubation period is highly
variable. It depends on several factors
such as:
• Dose of inoculum.
• The severity of the wound.
• The distance from the wound to the
brain.
• In man the incubation period is usually
from 1-3 months
Pathogenesis
• G (Glycoprotein) nicotinic acetylcholine
• dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord
• encephalitis
• hippocampus and cerebellum
Clinical manifestations
1. Prodormal phase:
• It lasts for 2-10 days characterized by
non-specific symptom such as fever,
malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting,
photophobia, sore throat, abnormal
sensation around the wound site.
2. Acute neurological phase
• This may be either encephalitic type
(80%) or paralytic type (20%).
• Hyperexcitability: Anxiety, agitation,

hyperactivity, and hallucinations
• Autonomic (sympathetic) dysfunction:
Increasing lacrimation and salivation
Hydrophobia (fear of water) or
aerophobia (fear of air):
• In later stage hydrophobia patient are unable
to drink water with intense thirst, patient may
be to swallow dry solids but not liquid. The act
of swallowing precipitates an involuntary
painful spasm of the respiratory, laryngeal and
pharyngeal muscles. These symptoms are
probably due to dysfunction of infected
brainstem neurons.
Comma and death

• Death usually occurs due to
respiratory arrest during convulsion.
• Recovery and survival are extremely

rare.
Laboratory diagnosis
• Demonstration of virus in Rabies animal
is more important than that in patient.
• Human rabies: Laboratory diagnosis is
two types.
• Ante-mortem diagnosis
• Postmortem diagnosis
Antemortem diagnosis
• Virus isolation test applied to saliva,
corneal smear and facial skin biopsy.
Following are the different methods.
1. Demonstration of virus antigen in
corneal smear, saliva
2. Animal inoculation (Mouse)
3. Cell culture
4. PCR
b. Postmortem diagnosis
1. Demonstration of Negri bodies

Microscopic examination
Immunofluorescence
2. Animal inoculation
• Mouse inoculation:
3. Cell culture
• Baby hamster kidney cells line 21
(BHK-21)
• Chick embryo related (CER) and
• Neuroblastoma cells.
PCR
b. Postmortem diagnosis
Negri body
Seller’s technique (basic
fuchin and methylene blue in
methanol)
smears
• Negri bodies are seen as
intracytoplamic inclusion bodies
purple pink structures with
characteristic basophilic inner
granules
• Negri bodies vary in size 3-27
micrometer in size
Treatment
• Wash wound with soap, detergent
and water.
• Passive immunization by
inoculating antirabies serum.
• Active immunization by rabies
vaccines.
Prophylaxis
1. Pre-exposure prophylaxis
Laboratory personnel and vaterinary
doctors and those who handle
potentially infected animals.
2. Post exposure prophylaxis

Vaccination
1. Neural vaccine
2. Non-neural vaccine
Neural vaccine
1. Neural vaccine: Pasteur (1885) first
developed rabies vaccine by drying spinal
cord of infected rabbit. The following are
some of the infected brain vaccines.
a. Sample vaccine: Vaccine developed by
Sample 1922 at Central Research Institute
Kasuli. 5% suspension of infected brain is
inactivated by 5% phenol at 37°C. It is
widely used antirabic vaccine.
• b. Betapropiolactone BPL vaccine:
Modified sample vaccine with BPL as
inactivating agent instead of phenol;
believed to be more antigenic than sample
vaccine.
• c. Infant brain vaccine: Vaccine prepared

in brain of suckling mice inactivated by U V
radiation, BPL or phenol.
2. Non-neural vaccine
• a. Inactivated
• i. Tissue culture vaccine: Fixed virus grown in
WI-38 or MRC 5 human normal fibroblast cell
line, and in-activted by BPL. It is highly
antigenic free from side effects, but costly.
• ii. Duck embryo vaccine: Purified duck embryo
vaccine is beta propiolactone inactivated
vaccine. It is as effective as cell culture vaccine.

• b. Live attenuated
• Chick embryo vaccine: It was used for
vaccination of animals. Two types of
vaccine were developed- the low egg
passage and high egg passage at 40-50
egg passage level and at 180 passages
respectively. This vaccine is not
recommended for humans as it
contains live virus.
Thank you

Rabies

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RHABDO VIRUSES

• (rhabdo, meaning rods)

• Rabies is a zoonotic disease of warm

Street viruses Fixed viruses

Freshly isolated Isolated after serial intracerebral

Affect salivary glands Do not affect salivary glands

Incubation period 1-3 months Incubation period 4-6 days

• Haemagglutinatinin (HA): Rabies virus

• Hyperexcitability: Anxiety, agitation,

• Recovery and survival are extremely

1. Demonstration of Negri bodies

2. Post exposure prophylaxis

• c. Infant brain vaccine: Vaccine prepared

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