Teddy, my family’s 10-year-old Lab, and Pip, our 5-year-old cat, receive their yearly vaccines every spring.
“Is rabies a problem?” I asked myself.
I knew the vaccine, which has been around for 100 years, was safe, effective and inexpensive.
I also knew rabies is a viral disease that impacts the central nervous system of mammals – humans, dogs, cats, skunks, etc. – and is transferred by a bite because it is carried in the saliva of an infected animal.
While I knew the symptoms in general, reading them described by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) would give any animal lover the willies: “The symptoms may be nonspecific at first, but include lethargy, fever, vomiting and anorexia. Within days, signs can progress to cerebral dysfunction, ataxia, weakness and paralysis, breathing and swallowing difficulties, excessive salivation, abnormal behavior, aggressivity and/or self‑mutilation.”
And it goes on:
“The incubation period may vary from several weeks to several months, but once rabies symptoms appear, the disease is invariably fatal both in animals and humans.”
I did not know about World Rabies Day and why it was needed. I assumed rabies was eliminated in our country, but what about others? WOAH lists Western Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea and parts of Latin America as areas where rabies has been eliminated.
In more than 150 countries, however, many in Africa and Asia, rabies remains uncontrolled. Numerous research organizations believe the disease is responsible for an estimated 59,000 to 70,000 human deaths yearly, of which 40% are children.
In 2015, world health organizations called for action by setting a goal of worldwide zero human dog‑mediated rabies deaths by 2030. As dog bites cause nearly every human case, deaths can be prevented by stepping up awareness, vaccinating dogs to prevent the disease at its source and dispensing life‑saving treatment after humans are bitten.
This means working with individual governments to raise awareness and encourage collaborations with not only international/national organizations but with local leaders.
My eyes were spinning when I started reading the different organizations that were a part of this task. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists these organizations among those they are working with to reach the 2030 goal: U.S. Department of Agriculture, World Health Organization, WOAH, the International Rabies Task Force and United Against Rabies.
Finally, WOAH emphasizes, “Unlike for many other diseases, the tools needed to eliminate dog‑mediated rabies already exist. It is 100% preventable and rabies vaccines for dogs can efficiently eliminate the disease at its animal source.”
Every report or article I have read has echoed what WOAH stated – that it’s up to us, humans, to do the work to get it done.
It means making sure our beloved family dogs and cats are up to date on their rabies vaccinations. Speak up when you hear others talking about whether there is a need for their pets to get vaccinated. Rabies vaccines work, protecting humans and their pets.
Teddy and Pip deserve to live long, healthy lives, and so do your animals.
Karin Spicer is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association. She can be reached at spicerkarin@gmail.com.
By the numbers
59-70,000: People killed annually by rabies worldwide
99%: Annual human rabies deaths that occur outside the U.S.
100: Years effective rabies vaccines for humans and animals have been available
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