i might have outdated information! at one point i "knew" that rabies was a mammals-only situation, is that now known to not be true?
We know so little about rabies. I know more about rabies than the vast majority of people, but in the grand scheme of things, I know nothing.
Here is what I can tell you:
•There are many viruses that cause rabies. These viruses are called Lyssaviruses, after the Greek goddess of rabies, Lyssa. Most of them are mainly seen infecting bats.
•Rabies lyssavirus is the most commonly known species because it has multiple terrestrial vectors (dogs are #1, but other vectors include mongooses, skunks, and more.)
•All mammals can get rabies, including opossums. Their body temp has nothing to do with anything.
•Some birds can get rabies. Rabies has been found naturally occurring in chicken and geese. This likely has to do with the fact that they are large enough to not die of the bite wound and live to develop rabies. Birds of prey appear to develop humoral antibodies that fight rabies and make them immune.
•There was recently two new species of lyssavirus discovered. One in green tree frogs, one in Cuban anoles. We have never seen them in a live animal, so we don’t know what their “rabies” looks like. Inactive forms of the virus have been created in labs and can infect mice.
•there are likely dozens more unknown species of lyssavirus out there that we don’t know about because we aren’t looking, and there isn’t really any funding to look.
