Why aren’t there more deaths in the US caused by rabies?

726 viewsOtherPlanetary Science

All it takes is one bite from a rabid animal, with no follow up medical treatment, and death is virtually guaranteed. But there have been less than 100 deaths in the last century in the US. Why aren’t deaths more common, especially given the sheer volume of wilderness and wild animals in the US?

In: Planetary Science

12 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Dealt with a rabid skunk at work.  6am while the store is about to open and all the employees are coming in, there was a rabid skunk walking in circles outside the employee door.  A few dozen people walked past it and in the door, it never stopped walking in circles.  They are generally dangerous because they act differently and people can just walk up to them without the wild animal running away.  But very few people will walk up to a skunk ever, and the PR for rabies is pretty effective.  Same applies to most animals.  People avoid wild animals in general, and past that most people have little to no exposure to wild animals unless they are rural.  Where there are pretty effective awareness campaigns  
Basically no one wants rabies and we shoot all the animals we find.  Had to call the store manager to give them a heads up that the cops were going to be discharging firearms on store property.  

You are viewing 1 out of 12 answers, click here to view all answers.