Rabies:
The death of a 12-year-old girl in Kerala from rabies, despite having multiple inoculations of the vaccine, has raised questions on the efficacy of rabies vaccines in India and their availability.
- Rabies is a disease that is caused by a family of viruses called the lyssaviruses and found in a range of mammals.
- The virus targets the central nervous system and is nearly 100% fatal to the host animal if it succeeds in infecting it.
- Though many animals from cats to crocodiles can be transmitters of the virus, it is most likely to spread to people from the bite of an infected dog or a cat as they are the most common pets.
