Rabies in the Americas

I’ve just returned from the Rabies In The Americas (RITA) conference in Quebec, Canada.  It was a fantastic meeting of scientists, public health officials, veterinarians, doctors, students and others all interested in rabies.  It was a week long event which included many presentations about the latest discoveries in rabies research.

Participants from all over the Americas attended including Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, other South and Central American countries as well as the United States and Canada.  There were even participants from as far away as the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka and Thailand among other Asian countries.  Africa and Europe were also represented with participants from those regions as well.  All presentations were simultaneously presented in French, English, Spanish and Portugese  through a translation service.

It was the 20th anniversary of the meeting, which was in part founded by rabies hero Dr. George Baer.  The conference organizers honored Dr. Baer’s family during the event and named a scholarship for him – the George M. Baer Latin American Investigator Award.  This award recognizes an outstanding rabies researcher from Latin America every year.  This year, the prize went to Dr. Roberto Carrasco-Hernandez who presented a model for helping limit the impact of rabies in cattle caused by vampire bats.

The conference included a Gala night of celebration, where some of the scientists attending the conference dressed up in traditional 18th century French-Canadian costumes.  A raucus auction was held to raise money for rabies research.  It was quite a spectacle to behold!

I felt honored to be among the many rabies experts at RITA.  I learned so much more about rabies and the efforts that are ongoing to limit the impact of this terrible scourge.  I felt encouraged to meet and talk to so many people who are dedicating their lives to helping wipe out rabies.

Finally, we were given the privilege to host RITA XXII at Yale University in 2011.  We now have alot of planning and organization to do!  Wish us good luck!

RW

Miracles Happen – the story of Jeanna Giese

This story isn’t really a ‘small miracle’ at all, but a really big one!  You may have heard of it before, but it’s worth repeating here.

 

I was lucky because I got to see with my own eyes, hear with my own ears and touch with my own hands the teenager Jeanna Giese who was miraculously saved from rabies.  Whether by a true miracle of prayer or a miracle of science through a treatment developed by Dr. Rodney Willoughby and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Jeanna survived rabies - a disease that should have killed her.

 

Jeanna was a teenage kid who loved animals.  One month before these events, she had picked up a bat in her church – the bat was sick and had fallen from the choir onto the floor.  Jeanna wanted to help the poor creature, so she asked her mom if she could pick it up and take it outside.  Jeanna did so, yet the bat latched onto her finger with its teeth and wouldn’t let go!  Although she didn’t realize it at the time, the bat had rabies.  (of course it’s never a good idea to pick up any wild animal – an animal’s natural instinct even without rabies is to bite). The bat fluttered off, and Jeanna and her family thought that was the end of that strange incident.

 

One month later though, she developed some bizarre symptoms which took doctors several days to recognize as rabies.  She had fevers, double vision and tingling of the arm.  She developed speech problems and gradually got worse over the next few days – slipping into a state near coma.  After rabies was confirmed from blood tests, Dr. Willoughby decided to try a new treatment by trying to protect the brain with sedation while the body ‘fought’ the virus.