Life and times of a freshly minted veterinarian, practicing in a busy small animal clinic and learning the ropes.I'm interested in small animals, exotic animals, and zoo medicine. However, I'm happy doing almost anything in this field.
Interesting discussion on rabies, the Wisconsin Protocol, and the six known survivors of rabies infection. While in developed countries rabies is a specter that only rears its head occasionally, rabies still kills 55,000 people worldwide every year (cited from the World Health Organization rabies fact sheet). Vaccination has been the mainstay of prevention and post-exposure prophylaxis, but for those who have been bitten and are showing clinical signs, survival is extraordinarily rare. Again, there are only 6 fully verified survivors of rabies in all of human history (though the article brings up some more possible survivors from history, they still are no more than a handful).
My personal opinion is that the doctors stating their disagreement with the Wisconsin Protocol have an excellent point: especially in developing countries, people should not count on the nebulous hope of treatment for rabies, but should focus all efforts on vaccination or prophylaxis. Even in the US, the Wisconsin Protocol has only saved a few lives, and at massive expense. Counting on a cure instead of proactively vaccinating would indeed lead to more deaths, in my mind.
Approximately 10,000 pounds of bushmeat — meat comprised of monkeys, wild pigs, rodents, and often endangered species — can enter a busy airport like one in France on a weekly basis. Viruses like Nipah, Henders, ebola, HIV, and others have their origins in animals and make the leap to humans via close proximity to animals or ingestion of animal material. While I’m all for omnivory, bushmeat poses a serious threat to public health in that it may transmit viruses that were previously animal-only to humans, and spawn a new serious health threat. This is a very concerning study.
