Rabies virus (RABV), scientific name Rabies lyssavirus, is a deadly neurotropic virus that causes rabies in humans and animals. Rabies virus has an extremely wide host range and its transmission most often occur through the saliva of animals. Without intervention prior to disease progression, rabies has the highest case fatality of any infectious disease. RABV contains a single-stranded negative-sense RNA genome that encodes five structural proteins: nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L). Among these viral proteins, the RABV glycoprotein (RABV-G) is a pivotal player mediating virus entry and the major target of neutralizing antibodies, thus a key factor for vaccine and drug design.
