Three days later, Brebner noticed “pain, redness, and slight swelling” around the bite. Another three days passed and he was admitted to Bellevue Hospital. His symptoms developed slowly—tender lymph nodes, abdominal cramps, paralysis of his legs, inability to urinate, tingling numbness in his arms, and then a high fever and hiccupping—until, after two weeks, he was very sick indeed. His breathing became labored and he turned blue. Put into a respirator, he convulsed and lost consciousness. Frothy liquid came wheezing out of his mouth and nostrils. Five hours later, William Brebner was dead at
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