First Human Rabies Case In State In 75 Years Reported

Man Hospitalized In Serious Condition

BOSTON -- A man in Massachusetts has contracted rabies -- the first case in a human in the Bay State in 75 years.

There were few details about how the man contracted the virus. He is listed in serious condition in a local hospital.

The Department of Public Health plans to hold a news conference Friday to discuss the case.
Rabies is a viral disease that infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death. It can be fatal if treatment is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms.

Early-stage symptoms include fatigue, headache and fever. It can progress to acute pain, violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, depression and hydrophobia.

The first thing I thought of when I read this was the movie Quarantine. In the movie, the virus that infected the people in the apartment complex was a mutated version of Rabies that fully infected someone within hours not days. Although the article does not say how or when the man contracted it, it is interesting that he is the first in 75 years. Either he has a hyper phobia of hospitals or he's just really unobservant.

For those fearing a Zombie Apocalypse, a mutated, fast acting version of the Rabies virus would be the closest thing to the un-dead apart from actually being un-dead. The only good thing would be that the virus would eventually kill the host, unless the virus mutated otherwise and just left them in a crazed flesh eating state until they were forcibly taken out.

This is why you should never pet stray animals my friends.

Source Article

This could be the way it starts folks... The Global Zombie Cataclysm.
It'll be all over the East Coast by 2AM. I'd say the basement is the safest place to be right now...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/96b0d2b3f53b.jpg[/atsimg]

This reminded me of an article I read this past summer. The headline made me laugh.

US reports first death from vampire bat

And we thought those things only happened in old black and white horror movies.

but seriously what are the chances that it may become a zombie-or-zombie-like outbreak?

reply to post by UberL33t


How is rabies contracted? How has he caught it? Is there an 'incubation' period, and could there be more people with it?

These are the first questions which came to my mind.

reply to post by Dinogur


It's a pretty intense virus. Have you seen Cujo? It would have to mutate though in order to even begin to be a threat. Consider they have about a week of symptoms that will progressively get worse, if that were to mutate and become a matter of hours instead, well then I could see it becoming a bit of a pandemicesque type of issue. If it were to ever become airborne, well...you get the picture.

reply to post by doobydoll


It is contracted, or is usually contracted by being bit by an animal that is infected with it. Usually domestic animals (that aren't vaccinated) contract it from being bit in some fashion by a wild animal. People are just as susceptible to the virus if they are bit. The article doesn't state that, but one would assume this is how the gentleman contracted it. However, most people know when they have been bit by a wild animal.

The incubation period varies but can usually last one to three moths. Source

As to how he wasn't aware he had it until later on after the symptoms were getting the worst is anyone's guess at this point. The article source may update that info when it is discovered...hopefully.

reply to post by UberL33t


**** I'm glad I bought myself a Machete.

Will be keeping a close eye on this to see where it leads.

This is pritty weird, im writing a zombie-apocalypse film right now where the virus is a mutated strain of rabis that stays in the nervous system without killing the host, been writing it for round 6 months now :s

Luckly though its a comedy so it's fairly light hearted.

Poor guy though, rabis is hard to treat sucessfuly, as well as not having a case in 75 years, they wont be the greatest amount of research on how to treat a person sucessfuly who has contracted the desies. Hope he pulls through though.

rabies is quite common in places like Africa, and it has NEVER led to a zombie-outbreak. Get real people and educated yourself.

a short summary of rabies can be found here : www.who.int...

Originally posted by Hellhound604
rabies is quite common in places like Africa, and it has NEVER led to a zombie-outbreak. Get real people and educated yourself.

a short summary of rabies can be found here : www.who.int...

How did we jump from one isolated case (probably from an infected wild animal bite) to a Zombie Apocalypse?

Slow down. LOL

reply to post by JustSlowlyBackAway

reply to post by Hellhound604


The Zombie Apocalypse reference was me merely being reminded of the movie Quarantine (fictional scenario) in which the Rabies virus was purposefully mutated by a disgruntled scientist in his apartment to be fast acting. The guts of the story are not indicative to a Zombie Apocalypse per se, however this is ATS, therein is most likely why the thread took that path as the subject matter is widely discussed here.

I truly don't think that anyone was sincerely implying that this is a sign of any impending Zombie Apocalypse.

reply to post by UberL33t

In unrelated(?) news:

PD: Man Bites Phoenix Officer On The Face During Arrest
www.abc15.com...
By: Navideh Forghani
Posted: 9:29 PM 12/301/2011

Strict quarantine rules for pets that have kept the UK rabies-free are to be relaxed from Sunday as ministers insist improved vaccines and blood tests will keep the country well-protected against animal diseases.

www.guardian.co.uk...

Bring all your rabies and plague to us ...........hang on , we have it all now at Porton Down,

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are

reply to post by Droidinvoid


Those are both very interesting coincidences.

it's really not that big of a deal that he was the first in 75 years. He just didnt seek medical help after being bit.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


i say the same thing and people look at me like im crazy lol
but rabies is very similar to the zombie virus and with how quickly diseases change and become super deadly that it is a real possibility