Description
A bite can heal long before the danger is over. Months later, even trying to swallow water can trigger painful spasms.
What does rabies actually feel like—and why is the time before symptoms so important? Through documented cases, archival clinical footage and animation, we follow the virus from exposure to the nervous system, explain hydrophobia, and explore the sometimes months-long incubation period.
We also explain post-exposure prophylaxis, why a healed wound doesn't rule out infection, and how vaccinating pets helps prevent rabies.
00:00 The bite you forget
00:36 How rabies enters the nervous system
01:35 The first warning signs
02:07 Why drinking water becomes difficult
03:09 Preventing rabies before symptoms
03:40 Animals, vaccination and exposure risks
Which surprised you more: the long incubation period or what causes hydrophobia?
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IMPORTANT
Includes distressing clinical footage. After a possible rabies exposure, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for at least 15 minutes and seek urgent medical advice. Don't wait for symptoms. If time has already passed, seek care anyway. A clinician or public-health professional should assess whether you need post-exposure prophylaxis. Not every animal bite transmits rabies.
This video provides general information, not personal medical advice. Illustrations and dramatized visuals appear alongside archival material.
SOURCES
WHO — Rabies:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
CDC — Post-exposure prophylaxis:
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/hcp/clinical-care/post-exposure-prophylaxis.html
CDC — Imported Human Rabies, Kentucky and Ohio, 2024:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/75/wr/mm7502a3.htm
Clinical Case Reports — Hydrophobia of human rabies:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6293146/
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE
“Hydrophobia of human rabies” — Juliana R. Tongavelona, Rivo Andry Rakotoarivelo and Fy S. Andriamandimby (2018).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hydrophobia_2.webm
CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Excerpted; original audio muted; cropping and framing adapted.
“Rabies in man” (1955) — D. Carleton Gajdusek and collaborating institutions; U.S. National Library of Medicine Digital Collections. NLM believes this item to be in the public domain.
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-7602415A-vid
Silent excerpts; cropping adapted.
Music and sound effects: Epidemic Sound.
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