Rabies Virus Infection

Rabies virus is a highly neurotropic, enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Rhabdoviridae family, genus Lyssavirus, causing an acute and invariably fatal infection of the central nervous system in humans and other mammals, primarily transmitted through bites from infected animals, especially bats in the Americas. It selectively infects neurons and is widely used in neuroscience as a retrograde tracer due to its ability to travel along axons; however, its high neurotoxicity limits its use unless modified to restrict replication and neuronal tropism. Pseudorabies virus (PRV), also known as Aujeszky's disease virus, is a member of the Herpesviridae family that causes severe reproductive and neurological disease in pigs, leading to abortion, stillbirths, and mummified fetuses, resulting in major economic losses in swine production.
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