![]() ![]() That’s why the family pet has shots every year. Time hasn’t changed everything, nor has our supposedly more enlightened medicine. It’s not an easy death and once you have rabies, once it has coursed through the nervous system, nothing can save you. The lord, of course, thinks nothing of the dog bite that will claim his life, and some of the earliest physicians’ scripts showcase the horror of rabies, from the madness to the hydrophobia. We begin with the real story of a long-forgotten lord and his devoted hunting hound turned violent. Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus starts as it means to go on: gruesomely. ![]() The term rabies and rabid has become part of our culture, both in obvious ways (have a little Stephen King and his good boy turned emissary of death, Cujo) and more subtle maneuvers such as our relationship with family pets and even our favorite spooky stories, from the suave vampire to the shambling zombie. Even know, we don’t fully understand the viruses that surround us or the seemingly new ones that are constantly rearing their ugly heads. ![]() ![]() It goes without saying that humankind has always lived in the shadow of fear, and one of our greatest fears is the inexplicable and terrifying specter of disease. ![]()
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