Rabies is a dangerous and fatal disease.  The disease is found worldwide, since the dawn of human civilization.

This is a disease without a cure.  From the time the first symptoms of the disease appear in a person or animal that has been bitten, there is no possibility of curing him/her and his/her fate is sealed:  namely, an agonizing death. 

Each year, thousands of people die of rabies, including people in Israel's neighboring countries.  Modern medicine has yet to find effective methods to save those stricken with this terrible disease.

Recently, rabies has broken out in the coastal region, after an absence of many years.  Many dozens of cases, including abandoned dogs and puppies that were "picked up" and adopted have been diagnosed.

With rabies, preventative medicine is the key.  It is important to remember that the rabies virus are found in the infected dog's saliva, and may be passed on to the person who has been bitten.  Fortunately, a relatively long period of time passes between the time you are infected and the appearance of the disease.   During that time, the life of the person who has been bitten can be effectively saved.  To this end, s/he must undergo medical treatment between the time s/he is scratched/bitten by the infected animal and the time the rabies symptoms appear.  This period is called the "incubation period".  During the incubation period, a series of inoculations are administered against the rabies virus.

The rabies virus is transmitted to a person when s/he is bitten or scratched and remains in the wound between 14 and 18 hours.  After that time, it is absorbed into the nerve endings and moves slowly through the nerves to the brain.  When it reaches the brain, the virus leads to the appearance of the rabies symptoms, which eventually lead to death within a few days.