World Rabies Day Reminder -- Vaccinate Pets

Main Category: Veterinary
Article Date: 27 Aug 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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World Rabies Day (WRD) is just a year old-the inaugural event was held last September-but in just a year it has touched the lives of people in over 180 countries. Its message is simple; prevent rabies in humans. This year WRD is Sept. 28.

Rabies is still a major threat worldwide. It kills over 55,000 people every year around the world and in the United States one to two people die annually. This year, U.S. experts on rabies are warning that there is more reason to be vigilant than ever.

Dr. Charles Rupprecht, chief of the rabies program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said that due to a variety of regulatory and manufacturing issues, there is, temporarily, a limited supply of rabies vaccine for humans. It's more important than ever to vaccinate pets.

"The best way to limit the need for human rabies vaccine is simply to make sure pets are vaccinated. We know that dogs and cats are not the most common animals found rabid in the United States, but they are the animals most frequently involved in multiple human exposures," he explains. "Your local veterinarian plays a key role in controlling rabies."

Unfortunately, cats are less likely than dogs to be vaccinated against rabies, and as a result, Dr. Rupprecht explains that cat owners are more likely to be exposed to rabies. The American Veterinary Medical Association's "U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook" states that only 64 percent of cats visit a veterinarian every year, compared to 83 percent of dogs.

Dr. Rupprecht explains that while rabies is largely under control in domestic animals, it is still common among wild animals. Almost all rabies deaths in the United States are tied to bites from infected bats-it's estimated that less than 15 in 100 suspected bats submitted for laboratory examination are infected-but the disease is also common in and transmittable from raccoons, skunks, foxes, or coyotes.

For more information, visit http://www.avma.org, or visit the World Rabies Day Website at http://www.worldrabiesday.org.

The AVMA and its more than 76,000 member veterinarians are engaged in a wide variety of activities dedicated to advancing the science and art of animal, human and public health. Visit the AVMA Web site at http://www.avma.org for more information.

American Veterinary Medical Association