Rabies in Dogs: Signs, Spread, Diagnosis and Prevention

Abstract

Rabies remains one of the most significant and lethal zoonotic diseases worldwide, with domestic canines serving as the principal reservoir and transmitter of the virus to humans. This comprehensive review examines the current state of knowledge regarding canine rabies, focusing on its viral etiology, structural molecular biology, transmission patterns, and complex multi-phased pathogenesis. The disease progresses systematically from local myocyte replication to centripetal retrograde axonal transport via dynein motors, ultimate central nervous system destruction, and subsequent centrifugal travel to the salivary glands. Clinical manifestations present distinctively as either furious (encephalitic) or dumb (paralytic) forms, both demonstrating terminal lower motor neuron and bulbar paralysis. Post-mortem evaluation relies strongly on histopathological identification of pathognomonic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Negri bodies) and non-suppurative polioencephalomyelitis, which must be confirmed using direct fluorescent antibody testing or molecular diagnostics. Given the absolute lethality of the disease upon clinical onset, robust mass canine vaccination and immediate epidemiological control remain paramount.