Rabid

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 virus—often from dog to man—reawakened a primal fear of wild animals, and the illness’ violent symptoms spoke directly to mankind’s fear of the beast within. The cultural response was to create fictional embodiments of those anxieties—ravenous wolfmen, bloodsucking vampires, and armies of mindless zombies. From the myth of Actaeon to Saint Hubert, from the laboratories of Louis Pasteur to a journalistic investigation into the madness that has gripped modern-day Bali, Rabid is a fresh, fascinating, and often wildly entertaining look at one of the world’s most misunderstood viruses.