Officials: U.S. Eliminates Canine Rabies

[Hissyspit]

Source: Agence France-Presse

US eliminates canine rabies -- officials

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rabies has been eliminated from the US dog population after decades of vaccinations and pet licensing toward that goal, the US Centers for Disease Control announced Friday.

"The elimination of canine rabies in the United States represents one of the major public health success stories in the last 50 years," stated Charles Rupprecht, chief of the CDC Rabies Program.

"However, there is much work to be done to prevent and control rabies globally," he said in an announcement to mark World Rabies Day.

Rabies in humans accounts for at least 55,000 deaths annually around the world -- at a rate of nearly one every 10 minutes.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070907/ts_alt_afp/ushealthrabiesanimals_070907201808

[kestrel91316]

1. All this means is there haven't been any cases in a while. This disease,

because it is endemic in several species of wildlife in the US, will ALWAYS be a threat. ALWAYS.

ALL dogs AND CATS need to be kept vaccinated against rabies. Even indoor cats (there are two documented deaths of indoor-only cats from rabies in the US - due to rabid bat exposure). NEVER think for one minute that the danger is gone - it's just out there waiting for people to get sloppy.

Bats, skunks, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and opossums are the main sources of rabies in the US. Dogs and cats become infected when exposed to infected wildlife.

[brer cat]

2. Glad you jumped on this, Doctor.

This is the kind of announcement that might make people careless...why spend the $ for a vaccination that isn't needed.

[StarryNite]

6. kestrel

do you know if fruit bats can or do get rabies?

[kestrel91316]

8. Hm, good question. Let me do some homework.

Oh, looky here! Fruit bats have a virus related to rabies that has caused human encephalitis:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2990.1998.00129.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=nan

This appears to be a public health issue in Australia:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/cdscu/facts/pdf/rabies.pdf

Rabies has been found in fruit bats in Thailand:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v216/n5113/abs/216384a0.html

So, yes. It can happen. Use caution with ALL bats (and ALL wildlife, period).

[StarryNite]

11. Thank you!

[DemBones DemBones]

9. Yes, keep your animals vaccinated so they don't get rabies from a wild animal.

Don't assume that all dogs are rabies-free, either. Feral dogs haven't been examined by the CDC.

This shows that most people are having their dogs vaccinated against rabies and it's working well but you can't even assume that all pet dogs have been vaccinated.

As you said, cats also have to be vaccinated.

Eradicating diseases is a great goal but I am unsure any disease has truly been eradicated. When the WHO said smallpox had been eradicated, I thought about all the people who live in very remote corners of the world, in Mongolia, the Philippine Archipelago (over 7, 000 islands), deep in South American rainforests or the outback of Australia, on tiny Pacific islands, in deepest Africa, etc., and wondered if stopping vaccinations was a wise idea. There have been stories in recent years of some of the former USSR's bacteriological weapons, or the bacterial cultures used to make them, being missing, and IIRC smallpox was mentioned.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Duped again! Sorry. nt

[XemaSab]

12. And FYI, there are two kinds of rabies: dumb and furious.

Bats carry dumb rabies, so never ever ever touch a sick bat.

And just for chuckles, here's the CDC's rabies epidemiology page:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Epidemiology/Epidemiology.htm

Scroll to the bottom for the last 10 cases of rabies in humans!

Pesticide poisoning? Carpal tunnel syndrome? Bowel obstruction? Herpes? Dehydration? Muscle strain? Alcohol poisoning?

NO!!!!!!

[StarryNite]

14. That was very interesting.

Thanks for posting that link.

[juajen]

13. As the link bears out, possums rarely, if ever, have rabies.

I did research online on this after someone expressed concern over a possum and her babies that come visit our cat food bowl. My research said they are very misunderstood, and are wonderful, sweet animals with no diseases, except for fleas which are common everywhere on many animals. I just wanted to take up for North America's only marsupial.

[BadgerKid]

3. While "no mad cow" is claimed

despite the illegalization of user-administered testing. :eyes:

Consider me shocked ... NOT!

[blondie58]

4. wow- this is great news

now if only we could educate China that a cheap vaccination can prevent it in their country, also so that they don't have to kill all of their dogs- or have the owners do it.

[DBoon]

5. Good that it has been eliminated in dogs

Now if we could only eliminate rabies in right-wing talk show hosts.....

[pitohui]

7. in the fine print: plenty of rabies still in usa

they had me going there for a minute, sigh

there are some places where there is no rabies at all, quite a number of them actually, but it would be stunning to achieve w. a nation this size i guess