Rabies and the Red Fox | Wildlife Online

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• If the virus establishes itself in the limbic system, the inner part of the brain, the victim is subject to agonising muscle spasms that prevent them from drinking; any attempt at swallowing water, even saliva, can trigger muscle spasms and the victim may come to fear water, a condition known as hydrophobia.

• The victim becomes highly aggressive, biting without provocation, and hence this is often referred to as the furious condition.

• If the virus replicates in the neocortex, the brain’s outer layer, the animal becomes progressively paralysed, often to the point where it cannot bite, and this is known as the dumb condition.