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Rabies is still a major threat worldwide. It kills over 55,000 peopleevery year around the world and in the United States one to two people dieannually, reports the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Thisyear, U.S. experts on rabies are warning that there is more reason to bevigilant than ever, because of a limited supply of rabies vaccines for humans.http://www.avma.org
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"The best way to limit the need for human rabies vaccine is simply to makesure pets are vaccinated. We know that dogs and cats are not the most commonanimals found rabid in the United States, but they are the animals mostfrequently involved in multiple human exposures," said Dr. Charles Rupprecht,chief of the rabies program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control andPrevention in Atlanta. "Your local veterinarian plays a key role incontrolling rabies."
Dr. Rupprecht said that due to a variety of regulatory and manufacturingissues, there is, temporarily, a limited supply of rabies vaccine for humans.It's more important than ever to vaccinate pets.
Unfortunately, cats are less likely than dogs to be vaccinated againstrabies, and as a result, Dr. Rupprecht explains that cat owners are morelikely to be exposed to rabies. The AVMA's "U.S. Pet Ownership & DemographicsSourcebook" states that only 64 percent of cats visit a veterinarian everyyear, compared to 83 percent of dogs.
Dr. Rupprecht explains that while rabies is largely under control indomestic animals, it is still common among wild animals. Almost all rabiesdeaths in the United States are tied to bites from infected bats -- it'sestimated that less than 15 in 100 suspected bats submitted for laboratoryexamination are infected -- but the disease is also common in andtransmittable from raccoons, skunks, foxes, or coyotes.
For more information, visit http://www.avma.org or visit the World RabiesDay Website at http://www.worldrabiesday.org.
SOURCE American Veterinary Medical Association
