New research has shown that humans may be able to survive Rabies without vaccination or treatment after all. ... Even in animals who carry Rabies the virus isn´t completely fatal; 14% of dogs survive. Bats can survive too.
There is no cure for rabies, and it is almost always fatal. Once clinical signs occur, an infected animal usually dies within five days.
The only way to test for rabies is by examination of the brain tissue of a dead animal. There is no way to test for rabies infection in a live animal.
The incubation period — the period of time between exposure to a disease and the onset of clinical signs — for rabies can vary greatly. The typical incubation period is three to eight weeks, but it can be as little as nine days or as long as several years in some rare cases. The incubation period depends on several factors, including the location of the entry wound, the severity of the wound and the animal’s immune system. In general, the farther the wound is from the brain, the longer the incubation period will be.
The quarantine is set at 10 days because a rabies-infected animal can only transmit the disease after clinical signs have developed AND once these signs have developed, the animal will die within 10 days.