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Louis Pasteur administered the first rabies vaccine to nine-year-old Joseph Meis
Featured Event 1885 Event

July 6

Pasteur Saves a Boy: Rabies Vaccine's First Success

Louis Pasteur administered the first rabies vaccine to nine-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been mauled by a rabid dog, despite the personal legal risk of practicing medicine without a license. This daring intervention proved that artificially weakened pathogens could protect humans from fatal infections, establishing the scientific foundation for manufacturing vaccines against diseases like anthrax and chicken cholera.

July 6, 1885

141 years ago

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