How Rabies Works

# Summary

In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive deep into rabies—one of the most terrifying and fatal diseases known to humans. They explore the virus's history from ancient Mesopotamia through Louis Pasteur's groundbreaking vaccine in 1885, discuss how rabies travels through the nervous system and attacks the brain, and break down the two forms of the disease and their gruesome symptoms. The hosts also cover transmission methods, why bats are the biggest threat in modern America despite raccoons carrying more cases, the heartbreaking global death toll in developing countries, and the stunning recent discovery that rabies might actually be survivable thanks to the Milwaukee Protocol that saved a Wisconsin teenager's life.