Jeanna Giese, 1st Rabies Survivor without the Vaccine, Educating on Rabies at Children’s Museum on World Rabies Day, September 28

Posted on: Sep 26th, 2022

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin – 9/22/2022 – Eighteen years after surviving rabies, Jeanna Giese, Visitor
Experience Supervisor at the Children’s Museum of Fond du Lac (CMFDL), is using her experience to educate the community about the deadly virus, rabies, and how the vaccine can save lives. Jeanna describes, “rabies is transmitted usually through the bite of a rabid animal. Once the virus is in your body, it multiplies. After making all of its copies, the virus travels up your nervous system (your body’s command center) to your spinal cord and into your brain where it starts shutting down your body. To prevent this, as soon as possible after getting bitten or scratched, you want to start receiving the rabies vaccination. Rabies is almost 100% fatal, but 18 years ago, in 2004, I became the first person in the world to survive rabies without receiving the vaccination after trying to save a bat.”

The best way to stay safe around animals is to not touch wildlife (like bats and raccoons) and animals that you don’t know (like others dogs and cats). If you do encounter an animal and get bitten or scratched, it is important to contact a doctor right away.

Learn more about Jeanna’s experience, what rabies is, and how the vaccine can save lives at her Science Lab program on Wednesday, September 28 at 10:00am at CMFDL, presented in partnership with the Fond du Lac Area United Way.