This Sounds like Rabies. Rabies Starts As a Flu like Symptoms. It Then Spreads to the Spinal Cord and Brain At THIS time it is almost always fatal.
Meningitis.

No. Hydrophobia is one of the symptoms of rabies.

Rabies belongs to the Rhabdovirus family. The virus that causes rabies is the lyssa virus.

Only if that kitten was infected with rabies. (exception: if that kitten was a carrier of rabies, meaning it had it but didn't show symptoms of the disease.)

Rabies is spread by infected saliva that enters the body through a bite or broken skin. The virus travels from the wound to the brain, where it causes swelling, or inflammation. This inflammation leads to symptoms of the disease. Most rabies deaths occur in children