At first, there’s a tingling, prickling, or itching feeling around the bite area. A person also might have flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and tiredness. After a few days, neurological symptoms develop, including: irritability or aggressiveness.

Whether or not rabies really gave rise to vampires and zombies in the past, we definitely know the disease is a source of inspiration today: director Danny Boyle said that the virus that turns people into zombies in his 2002 horror movie 28 Days Later was modeled in part on rabies.

“If a rabies virus can mutate fast enough, it could cause infection within an hour or a few hours. That’s entirely plausible,” Andreansky said. But for the rabies virus to trigger a zombie pandemic like in the movies, it would also have to be much more contagious.

RABIES TRANSMISSION FROM ANIMALS Licks to wounds, grazes, broken skin, or to the lining of the mouth and nose, can also transmit the virus. Dogs are responsible for up to 99% of human rabies cases, however the virus can be transmitted from the bite of any rabid animal.

The rabies virus is fragile under most normal conditions. It is destroyed within a few minutes at temperatures greater than 122°F, and survives no more than a few hours at room temperature. The virus is no longer infectious once the material containing the virus is dry.

The rabies virus is a very fragile virus. As soon as the saliva dries, the virus is no longer infectious. The virus is easily killed by soaps, detergents, bleach, alcohol and ultraviolet light.

If not, an infected person is expected to live only seven days after the appearance of symptoms. Rabies is transmitted through contact with the saliva of an infected animal.

How Long Can the Rabies Virus Survive? The virus cannot live outside of the body for more than a couple of seconds, which is good news. Live virus, however, can be found in deceased animals for as long as 48 hours.

The rabies virus is short-lived when exposed to open air—it can only survive in saliva and dies when the animal’s saliva dries up.

The rabies virus does not survive long outside of animals. It is generally destroyed by heat, sunlight, or air.

Rotting of a rabies-infected animal carcass kills the virus. Freezing does not destroy the virus. It is usually destroyed after a few minutes at temperatures greater than 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rabies virus does not penetrate intact skin or clothing.