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The article presents a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the only case of human rabies in 2005, and the first in Mississippi since 1956. The report describes the case of a previously healthy 10 year old boy who died of encephalitis, which was later attributed to rabies. The child presented a fever that was first evaluated by a pediatrician who diagnosed a viral illness. Two days later, the boy was taken to the emergency room for continued febrile illness. All tests were within normal levels. He returned to the emergency room in the evening as his symptoms had worsened. He was admitted to the hospital and suspected to have encephalitis. After admission, his neurologic condition deteriorated rapidly and he died 10 days later. The report is followed by an editorial note from the CDC.

Pays tribute to Warren H. Cole, professor emeritus of surgery at the College of Medicine of the University of Illinois in Chicago, who died on May 25, 1990. Educational and career background; Contributions to medicine; Information on his organizations.

This address was given at a biennial meeting of the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society. Surgical teachers are commemorated by the imitation of their pupils in accord with the human tendency to model ourselves after our heroes. The modeling is not merely a search for technical mastery but an emulation of virtues beyond the purely scientific. The lecture addresses the nature of teachers and teaching, the role of teachers as exemplars or heroes, the reasons why we commemorate certain teachers, and finally, the personal recollection of virtues, such as compassion, that make surgeons memorable for their pupils and patients. Citations from Thomas Carlyle, Jacques Barzun, and William Bennett illustrate the role of heroes, the nature of teaching, and the importance of virtue. Lessons are drawn from the lives of John Hunter and William S. Halsted, and from the work of the DeBakey family in surgery and in the craft of medical writing.