The effect of type-I interferons, and the antiviral drugs ribavirin and favipiravir on rabies virus replication in mouse neuroblastoma (N2A) cells

Abstract

Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease that has been known to man for about 4000 years. Still today, rabies remains a feared disease that poses a serious threat both to human and veterinary public health, especially in developing countries. It is responsible for more than 55 000 human deaths around the world every year; the most among all zoonoses. In endemic countries, 40-50% of the human deaths caused by rabies are children below the age of 15 years (Fooks et al., 2014).