While we’re worrying about foot and mouth disease coming to Australia, spare a thought for people in countries where rabies is a problem, such as this American woman who was viciously attacked by a fox.
It was all captured on home surveillance video and clearly shows how dangerous a rabid animal can be.
Even something as small as a fox becomes unbelievably aggressive and attacks for no apparent reason.
The woman had to repeatedly fight off the animal and, despite its ongoing attack, kicked and threw it several times.
She was treated afterwards and is reported to be OK, while the fox was caught and killed.
Tests confirmed it had rabies, a disease which is endemic in North America, where the incident occurred, as well as in other continents.
A viral disease, rabies can be deadly to humans, and is most often transmitted to people by dog bites, although bats are another common cause of human infection in the US.
In Australia, bats carry a lyssavirus which can cause a rabies-like infection.
Since the discovery of the Australian bat lyssavirus in 1996, only three people are known to have been infected but all died as a result.
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