The book is structured logically (each chapter covers a specific aspect of Rabies history), the quasi-authoritative presentation has the feel of a lecture series, and the examples are interesting and punctiliously documented. but also expounding on the fascinating folklore potentially surrounding the infection (Ancient Greek concepts of 'Lyssa' & Medieval European fears of witchcraft, vampirism, and lycanthropy, for example) and listing literary/popular culture works that have been influenced by the phenomenon of Hydrophobia over the years. Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy put together an engrossing exposé on the topic of this fascinating affliction - discussing the history, clinical presentation, pathophysiology, and treatment of the illness (including vaccination, therapeutic coma, and vector control). In the age of COVID (and the attending effect on our medical systems), it is horrifying to think of a virus that approaches 100% mortality if untreated.
The ravages of the Rabies virus are terrifying. He is the editor of the anthology Submersion Journalism and has also written for Oxford American, Slate, Salon, and McSweeney’s. Today, its history can help shed light on the wave of emerging diseases-from AIDS to SARS to avian flu-with origins in animal populations.įrom Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh, fascinating, and often wildly entertaining look at one of mankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes.īill Wasik is a senior editor at Wired magazine and was previously a senior editor at Harper’s, where he wrote on culture, media, and politics. A disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans, rabies has served as a symbol of savage madness and inhuman possession throughout history. The most fatal virus known to science, rabies kills nearly 100 percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain.
In this fascinating exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years in the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies.
It’s a scenario that underlies our darkest tales of supernatural horror, but its power derives from a very real virus, a deadly scourge known to mankind from our earliest days. A maddened creature, frothing at the mouth, lunges at an innocent victim-and with a bite, transforms its prey into another raving monster.
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