[alamosaurus]

The Warao Indians' (Venezuela) "Mystery Illness":

Symptoms:
1. All of the victims were bitten by vampire bats. Several weeks after the
bites they developed indistinct flulike symptoms and peculiar, tingling
sensations around the bite; this was followed by
3. Painful spasms of the throat muscles when attempting to swallow liquids
which progressed to an EXTREME FEAR OF WATER ("hydrophobia") and
excessive salivation ("foaming at the mouth") and also
4. Convulsions;
5. Progressive paralysis;
6. Coma; and
7. Death within 2 to 7 days of the onset of symptoms.

The key to identifying this illness is the dreaded "hydrophobia" symptom.
This combination of symptoms is characteristic of only one disease--RABIES,
which is carried by vampire (and other) bats. A new strain of the rabies virus
was recently discovered in bats in Australia, once thought to be rabies free.