By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesRabies is a high-profile disease and human rabies is exceptionally rare in Canada. While rabies is relatively widespread in wildlife in North America, it’s is rare in domestic animals in Canada, and spillover into people is fortunately rarer still because people have less direct contact with wildlife reservoirs, and because post-exposure prophylaxis is so effective… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,RabiesI’ve been slow to write about this (and other things lately… busy/lazy) but a rabid feral cat found in the vicinity of Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando, FL has attracted a lot of attention. The Department of Health in Orange County has issued a 60 day alert for a two mile radius around where the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationDuring today’s Public Health Agency of Canada webinar, part of a new webinar series on zoonoses and adaptation in a changing world, Chelsea Raybern from the Kansas State Deptartment of Health and Environment provided a report about rabies in a dog that was imported into Kansas from Egypt in 2019. The dog had been in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationEffective tomorrow, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suspended importation of dogs to the US that: are from Egypt, or originated in Egypt and have been in another country for less than 6 months. This is being done because of multiple cases of rabies in imported dogs specifically from Egypt over… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationRabies is “almost always” transmitted by bites and “almost invariably” fatal once disease develops in a person or animal. We use a lot of these kinds of disclaimers with infectious diseases, which can be frustrating, but it’s necessary because exceptional (strange) things occasionally occur. A report in an upcoming edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases (Zhao… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationRabies vaccination of dogs is legally required in many areas. In most of those, it must be given by a veterinarian, unlike some other vaccines that can be purchased from a veterinarian or supplier and administered by owners. Why does a veterinarian have to administer rabies vaccines? There are a few reasons. One is that… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesI’m taking a Brucella break to post a few interesting rabies stories. More rabies in Nunavut A rabies warning was issued to residents of Taloyoak, Nunavut in response to identification of rabies in “a number” of dogs and foxes (I’m not sure what that number is). This isn’t really new, as Arctic fox rabies is… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationWe often talk about rabies in the context of high GDP countries, focusing on wildlife rabies and exposure during travel. However, in many parts of the world, exposure to canine rabies is an ever-present risk, and there can be substantial barriers to getting proper post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) when needed. That’s part of the reason tens… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesRabies and distemper are the two things that come to mind first when a raccoon is acting strangely. Rabies is a big concern because it can also be transmitted to people. Distemper is also a viral infection, caused by canine distemper virus, and is transmissible to dogs and some wildlife species, but is not zoonotic.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationIt’s easy to get complacent about rabies, even when you live in an endemic region. While we have ample bat rabies, Arctic fox rabies and raccoon rabies in Ontario, spillover into domestic animals is relatively rare. Success can breed complacency, though. When control measures work, it’s easy to forget why they are so important. That’s… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationHere are some more leftover questions from the talk I did a talk recently for Third Age Learning in Guelph: As West Nile virus seems to be spreading, is there a vaccine becoming available for the general population? Probably not, but that’s just a guess. While it should be possible to make an effective human… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,RabiesI did a talk recently for Third Age Learning in Guelph, and there was an abundance of questions. I didn’t get through them all at the time, so I figured I’d address some of them here: Do mice carry rabies? Mice aren’t rabies reservoirs like raccoons, skunks or bats, as they don’t have a rabies… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationBefore the emails start rolling in… yes, it’s from a satire site. See Dr. Sarah Boston (veterinary cancer surgeon extraordinaire)’s take on how veterinarians are misleading people into protecting people. EXPOSED – Vaccination of Pets Found to be Part of Larger Plot to Prevent Rabies in Humans… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,RabiesI spend a lot of time answering questions about rabies exposures, and sometimes trying to clear up misinformation. Rabies is a very important infectious disease but in many regions (like here) it’s fortunately rare in domestic animals and people. However, rarity can breed complacency or lack of (or loss of) knowledge. That creates problems when… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationAs is typical for this time of year, the annual US rabies report has been published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (Ma et al, 2018). Here are some highlights: 4454 rabid animals were identified across the country. This is certainly a marked underestimate of the actual number since most rabid animals… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationNo, we haven’t changed to a cooking blog, I’m talking about bites of the canine variety. I can’t think of any specific data that would show it, but I wonder whether bites are more common around the holidays, with disrupted schedules and more visitors (and a potential midnight intruder in a red suit). The rabies-related… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Other animals,RabiesI realize headline writers are trying to attract attention, and sometimes they don’t know much about the content. As a result, some headlines are quite over the top, and that can freak people out. Here are some examples from the past couple of days: 4 year old girl catches life-threatening infection by trying on shoes… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationHuman deaths from rabies are common in some developing countries (where tens of thousands die from canine rabies every year) but rare in developed countries. It’s an almost invariably fatal disease, but at the same time it’s almost completely preventable because of the quality of vaccines and post-exposure prophylaxis available. Getting those treatments to the… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Other animals,RabiesToday’s post comes from Rachel Gagnon, Rabies Science Transfer Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), highlighting some of the amazing work being done in Ontario in the ongoing battle against wildlife rabies. Ontario’s rabies control program is a world leader when it comes to controlling and eliminating rabies. The MNRF… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThe World Health Organization has issued new rabies vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations. Here are some of the highlights: Post-exposure prophylaxis People who have not been previously vaccinated against rabies should receive immunoglobulin (antibody) promptly, followed by a series of rabies vaccines. Immunoglobulin can be given after vaccination has started, if logistics require that; however, it… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,RabiesHere are updated versions of the US rabies maps from yesterday’s post, with the addition of some more data. Pennsylvania’s looking more biohazardous now but that’s because we got a lot more data for that state. If we get more data from other areas, the maps will be updated accordingly.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Rabies,VaccinationWe track a few different diseases, both for research and for general education, including rabies. The maps below provide an overview of rabies in dogs, cats and horses in the US in 2017. It’s not a complete representation of cases, since we don’t have access to everyone’s surveillance data. It’s compiled through monitoring various reports… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesA dog attacks someone and is shot by police. Unfortunate, but sadly it happens. The sheriff’s investigator notifies the county health department, which says the dog needs to be tested for rabies. Good. That sometimes gets missed. The investigator then tells the owner that he has to remove the dog’s head or he’ll face a charge… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesIf a dog bites a person or another animal, there are two ways to make sure that the bite couldn’t have resulted in transmission of rabies virus: Euthanize the dog and test the brain for rabies. Ensure the dog is still neurologically normal 10 days later (if this is the case, then the dog could not have… Continue Reading
