An infectious disease such as rabies canine is very dangerous and without vaccination is fatal. There are various routes of transmission of rabies in dogs.
Signs of rabies
At the onset of the disease, changes in the dog's behavior are noted: he becomes unusually affectionate, sometimes, on the contrary, too shy and alert, stops eating, the taste can become perverted, begins to eat something inedible. Saliva flows too intensively from the mouth, vomiting is sometimes noted. This condition can last up to 4 days.
In the second period of rabies, the dog becomes nervous, shows aggression, gnaws at the ground and various objects, and tries to escape. There are cases of attacks on people and other animals.
Further, convulsions occur, which over time occur more and more often and become longer. In this phase of rabies, the dog's temperature rises, vomiting often occurs, strabismus appears, paralysis of the limbs, pharynx and larynx, the lower jaw becomes saggy, saliva flows continuously, barking becomes muffled. It lasts about 3 days.
The final stage of the disease includes the following symptoms: weight decreases sharply, first the hind legs are taken away, then the entire body and forelimbs, and soon death occurs. This phase lasts 2-4 days.
Ways of contracting rabies from dogs
Most often, this disease is transmitted through the bite of sick animals. Together with the saliva of an infected animal, a virus that causes rabies enters the wound. Once in the body, it spreads along the nerve endings, entering the spinal cord, and then the brain.
It has been established that the saliva of an infected animal can harbor this virus when the actual rabies has not yet occurred, and the dog behaves as usual. Infection is possible already several days before the manifestation of obvious symptoms of the disease, and in some cases even two weeks.
Therefore, people and animals bitten by a dog, which at that time did not show signs of rabies, still risk becoming infected: they should seek medical help and undergo treatment as soon as possible.
The degree of danger of a bite also depends on the location of the lesion: they are especially dangerous in those places where there are many nerve endings. A bite in the head area can lead to quick death. That is why dogs often develop this disease rapidly: as a rule, they bite each other close to the head.
Doctors have established cases when canine rabies was transmitted not only through a bite. Infection can occur even if the sick dog just licked a fresh scratch on the body of a person or other animal. Infection is also possible during the anatomy of the body of the deceased from this disease, contact with blood.
