Book group discussion questions for "Rabid"

Just in case discussion at tonight's book group flags, I wrote up a list of possible questions to raise:

What do neurological illnesses like rabies imply about free will?

What does the rising occurrence of zoonotic diseases say about our relationship to animals? Can anything be done to reduce them? What does this say about our changing relationship to animals? (e.g. the Scottish lady who kept her little dog and became infected)

Rabies was an incurable scourge until the time of Pasteur, and then his vaccine was a post-bite cure before the onset of symptoms. Do you think coma induction is indeed a potential cure for post symptomatic rabies and should research be done to further this theory?

How likely is it that the Rabies RNA and protein coating can be used to integrate curative retroviruses into the brain to cure such ailments as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's?

Are slow-moving horde vs. fast-moving Zombies vs. vampires really an economic/social indicator?

Does rabies seem like a plausible influence upon werewolf and vampire legends?