Bill Wasik

Rabid Bill Wasik

In this engrossing narrative, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. In the absence of a vaccine, which was not discovered until the late nineteenth century, the rabies virus caused brain infections with a nearly 100 percent fatality rate in both animals and humans, and the suffering it inflicted became the stuff of legend. The transmission of the virusoften from dog to manreawakened a primal fear of wild animals, and the illness violent symptoms spoke directly to mankinds fear of the beast within. The cultural response was to create fictional embodiments of those anxietiesravenous wolfmen, bloodsucking vampires, and armies of mindless zombies.