i knew the symptoms (learning from books), but never considered it to be 'fear of water'. that was new to me.

i thought subjects would not be able to swallow, which increases the pathogen load. hence, when biting it creates a higher chance of infecting.

isnt it so mindblowing how some pathogenes change the mind of the host: other examples:

toxoplasmosis

or that fungi in ants (forgot the name)

can someone confirm the 'fear of water' vs. ' inability to swallow'? you can dm if you have a good source ;-)