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It kills at least 50,000 people worldwide each year, mostly children. Dogs are the main culprits. But in the United States, where pet vaccination and stray-dog-control programs are strong, rabies has a different face: Raccoons and skunks are by far the top four-legged viral hosts.
狂犬病每年至少夺走5万个生命，其中大部分是儿童，而狗是主要凶手。不过在美国，有非常严格的宠物疫苗接种和流浪狗控制制度，因此狂犬病以不同的方式传播：浣熊和臭鼬是迄今最主要的四脚动物宿主。
Scientists are standing up to these rabid mammals. Since the early 1990s more than a hundred million doses of oral vaccine have been spread in problem areas to create buffer zones. Distribution continues. At the same time, another disease host is showing teeth. Widespread and mobile, bats are directly implicated in 20 of the 25 U.S. human rabies deaths since 1997 (Bat bites can go unnoticed, especially if the victim is asleep). So how do you vaccinate on the wing? Ideas range from genetically modified insect prey to a parasite for drug delivery, says rabies expert Charles Rupprecht of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, up to 40,000 U.S. bite victims yearly rely on a six-shot regimen in case of infection. Doctors who administer the drugs quickly haven’t lost a patient yet.
科学家正在对付这些携带狂犬病毒的哺乳动物。自20世纪90年代早期，已有超过1亿剂的口服疫苗被发放到问题严重的区域，来形成缓冲区。在继续发放疫苗的同时，另一种狂犬病毒宿主也开始露出牙齿准备肆虐。蝙蝠，分布广，流动性强，自1997年以来死于狂犬病的25人中的20人是被蝙蝠夺去生命（被害者可能不知不觉给蝙蝠咬伤，特别是在睡梦中）。怎样给飞行动物注射疫苗呢？疾病控制和预防中心的狂犬病专家查尔斯·鲁贝齐称，方案千奇百怪，从使用基因改造过的昆虫做诱饵，到利用寄生虫施药。与此同时美国每年有4万被咬伤的人依赖六剂的注射疗程预防感染。如果医生能及时注射，受害者就没有生命危险。