Reacts with viral glycoprotein of rabies virus strains SAD-Vnukovo and Pitman-Moore. This MAb is useful in detecting rabies virus by ELISA and Western. It is capable of neutralizing rabies virus. Rabies virus (Neurotropic virus) is a member of the Rhabdoviridae family. Rabies is a single stranded, neurotropic, negative sense RNA virus which encodes 5 proteins: a glycoprotein, a nucleoprotein, and three others. The mature virus has a bullet shape, a protein coat, and a lipid envelope. The outer surface of the virus is covered with thumb like glycoprotein projections 5-10 nm long and 3 nm in diameter. The virus averages approximately 780 nm in length. Lipid solvents destroy virus infectivity. Rabies virus is a very successful virus, with a very wide range of hosts. It causes an acute, central nervous system infection, characterized by CNS irritation, followed by paralysis and death. Approximately 50,000 human deaths each year are caused by rabies.