An extensive wild animal vaccination campaign eliminated the virus from Italy again, and it regained the rabies-free country status in 2013, the last reported case of rabies being reported in a red fox in early 2011.The United Kingdom has been free of rabies since the early 20th century except for a rabies-like virus (EBLV-2) in a few Daubentons bats. There has been one fatal case of EBLV-2 transmission to a human. There have been four deaths from rabies, transmitted abroad by dog bites, since 2000. The last infection in the UK occurred in 1922, and the last death from indigenous rabies was in 1902.Sweden and mainland Norway have been free of rabies since 1886. Bat rabies antibodies (but not the virus) have been found in bats. On Svalbard, animals can cross the arctic ice from Greenland or Russia. Mexico
Mexico was certified by the World Health Organization as being free of dog-transmitted rabies in 2019 because no case of dog-human transmission had been recorded in two years. History
Rabies has been known since around 2000 BC. The first written record of rabies is in the Mesopotamian Codex of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BC), which dictates that the owner of a dog showing symptoms of rabies should take preventive measures against bites. If another person were bitten by a rabid dog and later died, the owner was heavily fined.In Ancient Greece, rabies was supposed to be caused by Lyssa, the spirit of mad rage.Ineffective folk remedies abounded in the medical literature of the ancient world.
EMG tests in patients who do have PMA usually show denervation (neuron death) in most affected body parts, and in some unaffected parts too.It typically takes longer to be diagnosed with PMA than ALS, an average of 20 months for PMA vs 15 months in ALS. Differential diagnosis
In contrast to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or primary lateral sclerosis, PMA is distinguished by the absence of:
brisk reflexes
spasticity
Babinskis sign
emotional labilityThe importance of correctly recognizing progressive muscular atrophy as opposed to ALS is important for several reasons. The prognosis is a little better. A recent study found the 5-year survival rate in PMA to be 33% (vs 20% in ALS) and the 10-year survival rate to be 12% (vs 6% in ALS). Patients with PMA do not have the cognitive change identified in certain groups of patients with MND. Because PMA patients do not have UMN signs, they usually do not meet the World Federation of Neurology El Escorial Research Criteria for "Definite" or "Probable" ALS and so are ineligible to participate in the majority of clinical trials conducted in ALS. Because of its rarity (even compared to ALS) and confusion about the condition, some insurance policies or local healthcare policies may not recognize PMA as being the life-changing illness that it is.