6.04 Bacteria vs. Viruses

Bulls Eye and I just got in from a trail ride—a pretty scary one at that. We're okay now, but Bulls Eye, the other horses, and some of your fellow travelers were pretty shaken up. I've had to work with Bulls Eye for over an hour to get him to stop shaking.

All I can say is that our policy to travel with a trail manager who's also trained as a marksman proved to be quite wise! Here's what happened. Today, as we worked our way through a canyon pass, we were attacked by a coyote that was acting very strangely! It was growling, foaming at the mouth—sure signs of rabies. Well, we didn't take any chances, and the trail manager put the poor thing out of its misery.

In this activity, you will:

compare and contrast viruses and bacteria

Whether you are at home doing your "thing," or if you are on a cool adventure on a dude ranch, bacteria and viruses can impact your life without any warning. Take a look at the animals in the collage below; each of them lives on or around the ranch. Each animal has diseases, both bacterial and viral, that affect them specifically. Other diseases can be passed between the animals and sometimes to humans. Rabies is one of those things that can affect any animal and human. So we take rabies and its prevention very seriously! As with any disease, knowing what causes it determines the treatment.

collage of animals: raccoon, rooster and hens, coyote, pigs, cows, dogs

Rabies: An Exploration into a Very Scary Disease

As a follow-up to the introduction to viruses earlier in your travels and your recent exploration of bacteria since you arrived at the Triple T, you'll investigate the similarities and differences between these two groups.

World Wide Web icon CDC: Rabies

To start, take a closer look at rabies. Find out the following information.

Is rabies caused by bacteria or a virus?
How is rabies treated?
What are the warning signs that an animal has rabies?
Which animals (wild/domestic) are most commonly found to be infected with rabies?

So what did you find out?

Text-only version

I don't know about you, but I am ready for a cup of coffee! Now that I have Bulls Eye and the other horses taken care of, I think I'll head over to the kitchen and see about calming my nerves. That brush with rabies was a bit scary.

Move on to the BioVenture to continue this activity.

Images © clipart.com 2006 with the exception of the saddle and Trudy © Microsoft clipart 2006, the rabies virus © Center for Disease Controls.