Some good news--U.S. free of canine rabies virus

[Lobster Martini]

(LM: Here’s some good health news for a change—the dog rabies virus has been eliminated from the United States. My terrier is delighted that she can no longer catch dog-specific rabies from another dog. I'm happy about it too. I've been bitten by the dog next door.)

U.S. free of canine rabies virus

Federal health experts declared a small victory against a fatal and untreatable virus on Friday, saying canine rabies has disappeared from the United States.

While dogs may still become infected from raccoons, skunks or bats, they will not catch dog-specific rabies from another dog, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"We don't want to misconstrue that rabies has been eliminated -- dog rabies virus has been," CDC rabies expert Dr. Charles Rupprecht told Reuters in a telephone interview.

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"The elimination of canine rabies in the United States represents one of the major public health success stories in the last 50 years," CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a statement.

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(Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070907/hl_nm/rabies_usa_dc&printer=1;_ylt=AsCUBsK9Hpq8DAl_fiYRtGsR.3QA)

[InvisibleTouch]

1. But rabies shots are still required?

Due to the possibility of catching it from wildlife?

That's the only immunization I can't give myself, because it needs a vet certificate and tag for the collar. I wouldn't mind not having to get that shot for my dogs, but would not skip it if there's still a risk without it.

[backscatter712]

2. Yep.

It's just a dog-specific strain of rabies that has disappeared from the U.S. Rabies can still be contracted from other animals like raccoons or bats.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. There is a risk and you should still get the vaccine

I take my brood in for a rabies shot once a year. They do have a vaccine that last two years but I figure they need to get a checkup once a year anyway.

I also give all the other vaccines myself.

[Lobster Martini]

7. Yes, this only applies to the dog-specific virus; other strains still exist, so shots are necessary

But eradication of the dog-specific virus is still a good thing.

[backscatter712]

4. Here's a question for the medically inclined.

Every dog and cat and many other animals are routinely vaccinated against rabies - they all get the shot annually (or if they don't, they should.)

But why not humans?

We get inoculations against polio, measles, mumps, influenza, etc. but we don't get preemptively vaccinated against rabies - we only get the shots if we get bitten by an animal and there's the possibility that we may have been infected.

There's probably a legitimate medical reason for this. I'm just curious as to what the reason is.

[spoony]

9. In my totally amateur opinion

it's because outside animals are much more likely than most people are to encounter an infected mammal, since you have to be exposed to its fluids. A cat or dog may engage a wild raccoon or something, for example, whereas we probably would not. Other diseases, though, are passed from person to person in situations we all find ourselves in socially. I think basically they would consider human rabies inoculations expensive overkill for an almost nonexistent risk.

[murray hill farm]

5. What about Cats?

Same?

[Lobster Martini]

8. There's no known cat-specific rabies virus but cats are susceptible to other strains

(n/t)

[Ian David]

6. Now, I still need to worry about cats...

I'm still waiting on results of a rabies test being done on a feral cat that had to be euthanized.

See:

Free Kitten to Good Home (Adopt Keith or Randi... we're keeping Stephanie)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x13105