July 1885, and nine-year-old Joseph Meister is bitten by a rabid dog. His doctor takes him across Paris where he is treated by Louis Pasteur with his new vaccine. Despite the odds young Joseph survives and is the first person to be successfully treated for rabies, but why does he commit suicide when the Nazis invade Paris?
July 2017 and rabies returns to the UK but not as a result of a dog bite; will modern treatment be successful?
Rachel Fox is a park ranger with the Exmoor National Park and she is thrown head first into the battle against this horrific disease and sees her father, Reg, become the first victim as the reality of bat rabies unfolds. George Packham is also infected but by contact with a fox, she survives the ravages of the infection as a result of a novel new treatment.
Government panics, local communities recoil and professionals search for answers. Can the source be identified, the spread restricted and the victims safely treated. How does endemic rabies affect other services, can infection be spread through the transplantation of organs and corneas? Is this the aftermath of mad cow disease and bird flu? Has man's action and inaction contributed to the threat of a fatal disease spreading within the UK? You decide!
Are we as a nation prepared for what is about to unfold, does the media spread fear or sensible advice, do parents teach their children the most basic precautions and is the NHS suitably equipped to offer prompt and accurate diagnosis. Rachel through her research will learn the answers to many of these questions but at great personal loss. Together with a life long friend, Tim, she will lead the front line response to the growing threat.
Don't be afraid.........be aware.
