The document summarizes the portrayal and symptoms of rabies as depicted in the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God. It describes how the character Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog and begins exhibiting symptoms of the disease such as weakness, agitation, hallucinations, and hyper salivation. As the symptoms progress, he becomes delirious and tries to shoot the main character Janie, leading to his death from the rabies virus. The document then provides further details on the rabies virus, incubation period, forms of the disease, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and animals that can transmit rabies to humans.

1. Science or Science Fiction?
Their Eyes Were Watching God:
Topic of Rabies
Student

2. The Reel
• Reel: In the movie the character, Tea Cake, was bitten by a
rabid dog while trying to keep it from biting his
woman, Janie, and he contracted the rabies.
• In the onset of symptoms the site of the bite itched, he was
weak, and was unable to swallow.
• As the symptoms progressed he exhibited signs of
agitation, hyper salivation, blurred
vision, delirium, confusion, and excitation. A doctor visited
and warned that without the proper medication and being
tied down the virus would lead to death.
• The character’s symptoms increased and led to
hallucinations. In the end he was killed when he tried to
shoot Janie due to the delirium.

3. Tea Cake: Before and After

5. Lyssavirus rabies
• Rabies is a virus.
• Transmitted through a bite or by saliva or brain
tissue in a wound or in the eye or mouth (4).
• Very rare, but has been transmitted through
infected saliva in the air (1).
• Attacks the nervous system and kills almost any
mammal or human that gets sick from it.
• Death can occur within days in which the virus
can last from 2-10 days.
• 1 to 3 people die in the U.S. every year (4).

7. Incubation Period
• This is the actual time between getting infected
and when you get sick
• On average it is from 3-7 weeks
• At the most this period ranges from 10 days to
7 years (1).

8. Symptoms
• The early symptoms can mimic the onset of
the flu.
• As it progresses:
insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial
paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation,
hyper salivation, difficulty swallowing, and
hydrophobia.
• These symptoms stem from cerebral
dysfunction and cause abnormal behavior and
delirium (4).

9. Two Forms
Furious Paralytic
• Symptoms: • Accounts for 30% of human
hyperactivity, excited cases
behavior, hydrophobia, and • Runs a longer course than
sometimes aerophobia furious rabies
• Death is caused by cardio- • Symptoms: muscles
respiratory arrest paralyze at the site of the
bite or scratch, coma
develops, and then death
occurs
• This form of the disease is
often misdiagnosed due to it
not being reported (5).

11. Diagnosis
• Person is asked a series of questions to get the
proper information for the diagnosis and
animal-control authorities (3).
• If the animal is caught (brain) tissue samples
are taken
• Immunofluorescence or immunological
techniques to detect the virus in the tissue or
saliva of the animal or if the person has severe
symptoms

12. Animals that can spread the virus
• Bats
• Foxes
• Cats
• Dogs
• Skunks
• Large rodents
• Raccoons
• Coyotes
Dogs cause 99% of human rabies deaths. Bats are the source
of most human deaths in the U.S. and in Canada (5).

13. Treatment
• Immediately clean the wound with soap and water
• Given within 12 hours of exposure
• Given within 48 hours for the best outcome
• Initially, the person will be treated with the rabies
immune globulin near the site of the bite.
• A series of 5 injections of the vaccine will be
given in the arm over a period over 14 days (3).
• Urgency is key!!!

15. Prevention
• Administration of both passive antibody
through an injection of human
immunoglobulin and a round of injections with
rabies vaccine (4).
• Oral vaccines fed to wild animals
• Government mandated vaccinations of animals
• Avoiding contact with a suspected rabid
animal

16. Prevention

17. Works Cited
1. Board, A.D.A.M. Editorial. "Causes, Incidence, and Risk Factors."
Rabies. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 18 Nov. 0000. Web. 17 Apr.
2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002310/>.
2. Epidemiology, Office of. Rabies Control. Web. 12 September 2011. 26
February 2012 <www.vdh.virginia.gov/Epidemiology/DEE/Rabies>.
3. JM, Steckelberg. Rabies. Web. 28 January 2011. 10 April 2012
<www.mayoclinic.com/health/rabies/DS00484>.
4. Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and. Rabies. Web. 22 April 2011.
26 February 2012 <www.cdc.gov/rabies>.

18. Works Cited Continued
5. "Rabies." WHO. World Health Organization, Sept. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/>.
6. "Rabies Images." Yahoo! Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
<http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7uAo2Y1PwTA
A1TtXNyoA?p=rabies&fr=yfp-t-701&fr2=piv-web>.
7. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dir. Darnell Martin. Perf. Halle Berry and
Michael Ealy. Harpo Films, 2005. DVD.
8. YouTube - Their Eyes Were Watching God. YouTube. YouTube, 13 June 2009.
Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvV0r8z5iKQ>.