RESUMO
Rabies is considered one of the oldest infectious diseases known to humans. However, the first written reports on rabies cases in the Americas did not appear until the first decade of the 18th century from Mexico. In an attempt to clarify if the disease was already present in pre-Columbian times, we searched for evidence in the Maya and Aztec cultures. Other sources of information were early manuscripts written by the conquistadors and early explorers. We did not identify any unequivocal direct evidence that the disease rabies was known in pre-Columbian Central America but sufficient circumstantial evidence is available suggesting that (bat) rabies was already present in these early times.
Assuntos
Raiva/epidemiologia , Raiva/história , Animais , América Central/epidemiologia , História do Século XV , História do Século XVI , História do Século XVII , História do Século XVIII , História Medieval , HumanosRESUMO
Muraschi, Thelma F. (Division of Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health, Albany), John K. Miller, Victor N. Tompkins, and Dorothy M. Bolles. beta-Hemolytic gram-negative hemophilic bacillus isolated from the genitalia of rabbits. J. Bacteriol. 91:356-366. 1966.-An unidentified beta-hemolytic gram-negative hemophilic bacillus was encountered during experiments for recovery of Listeria monocytogenes from rabbits after vaginal instillation. Cultural, morphological, biochemical, and serological properties of the isolate were studied, and comparisons were made with members of the genus Haemophilus and L. monocytogenes. Identity of the microorganism was not established.
