ANNUAL REVIEWS Further Click here to view this article's online features: t%PXOMPBEmHVSFTBT115TMJEFT t/BWJHBUFMJOLFESFGFSFODFT t%PXOMPBEDJUBUJPOT Everything You Always Wanted t&YQMPSFSFMBUFEBSUJDMFT t4FBSDILFZXPSET to Know About Rabies Virus (But Were Afraid to Ask) Benjamin M. Davis,1 Glenn F. Rall,2 and Matthias J. Schnell1,2,3 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology and 3Jefferson Vaccine Center, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107; email:
[email protected] 2Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111 Annu. Rev. Virol. 2015. 2:451–71 Keywords First published online as a Review in Advance on rabies virus, lyssaviruses, neurotropic virus, neuroinvasive virus, viral June 24, 2015 transport The Annual Review of Virology is online at virology.annualreviews.org Abstract This article’s doi: The cultural impact of rabies, the fatal neurological disease caused by in- 10.1146/annurev-virology-100114-055157 fection with rabies virus, registers throughout recorded history. Although Copyright c 2015 by Annual Reviews. ⃝ rabies has been the subject of large-scale public health interventions, chiefly All rights reserved through vaccination efforts, the disease continues to take the lives of about 40,000–70,000 people per year, roughly 40% of whom are children. Most of Access provided by Thomas Jefferson University on 11/13/15. For personal use only. Annual Review of Virology 2015.2:451-471. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org these deaths occur in resource-poor countries, where lack of infrastructure prevents timely reporting and postexposure prophylaxis and the ubiquity of domestic and wild animal hosts makes eradication unlikely. Moreover, al- though the disease is rarer than other human infections such as influenza, the prognosis following a bite from a rabid animal is poor: There is cur- rently no effective treatment that will save the life of a symptomatic rabies patient.