Rabies enters a nerve cell at the bite site. It then travels along the nerve axon to the next cell. It does not proliferate at this time. Cell by cell, via the

Rabies enters a nerve cell at the bite site. It then travels along the nerve axon to the next cell. It does not proliferate at this time. Cell by cell, via the axon railway to the brain. It then proliferates in the brain and kills large numbers of brain cells and causes death. If you have antibodies, they can somehow block the axon travel. The Milwaukee treatment was a success - the only one? Perhaps that girl had some immunity? In any event, once it hits the brain the body starts to mount it's own immune response, and apparently the anitivirals she was given, along with the induced coma, allowed her immune system to overcome the rabies.