One of the oldest and deadliest of diseases known to affect both man and animal is 100% vaccine-preventable.

Rabies

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rabies virus is a globally found zoonotic disease that kills more than 55,000 people every year. This high loss of life occurs mostly in Africa and Asia, and the deadly effect of the virus is directly attributed to a lack of control of rabies in dogs.

Risk of Disease

With prompt medical treatment, rabies is preventable. However, children are more likely to suffer from multiple bites in high-risk areas on their body, which increases the difficulty of prevention and recovery without immediate medical care.

Transmission of Disease

While rabies is often linked to being bitten, the virus can also spread through non-bite exposure to an infected animal. Transmission of rabies through a non-bite exposure occurs when:

• Infectious bodily fluids get directly into the eyes, nose, mouth
• Contaminated mucous membranes make contact with scratches, abrasions, and open wounds.

Incubation and Infection

After the disease has been transmitted, the virus moves through the newly infected animal’s body by traveling to the spinal cord via the peripheral nerves. Once it reaches the brain, it travels down to the salivary glands, where the virus can be shed in saliva. Symptoms of infection typically occur within 10 days of the virus entering the salivary glands, but the virus may be present and can be transmitted several days before the animal exhibits any clinical signs.

Following exposure to an infected animal, the incubation period typically runs:

• Dogs: 21 to 80 days
• Cats: 15 to 25 days.

Symptoms

The symptoms of rabies typically are exhibited in one of two forms:

• Furious Form, referred to as “mad-dog syndrome,” which occurs in all species:
  • Animal will act viciously and may be observed to:
    • Attempt to chew the wire and frame of a cage, breaking teeth
    • Try to attack and bite through crate
  • Pupils will be dilated and the animal will be alert
  • The slightest noise will be responded to with irrational aggression
  • Excessive drooling
  • Loss of muscular coordination and seizures
  • Death occurs through progressive paralysis

  Cats most often exhibit this form and are said to be more dangerous than a rabid dog because a cat has the physical ability to spring, jump, and attack people about the face and neck

• Paralytic Form
  • Animal will profusely salivate and seem unable to swallow, caused by the paralysis of throat and masseter muscles
  • Animals with the paralytic form of rabies are seldom aggressive and only rarely attempt to bite
  • As the disease progresses, the paralysis spreads to all parts of the body and death occurs within a few hours.

Diagnosis

The early stages of rabies are difficult to diagnosis because the symptoms resemble those of other diseases and because they could be indicative of an animal with normal aggressive tendencies. When an animal is suspected of being infected, laboratory confirmation is necessary.

Laboratory confirmation requires direct visual observation via immunofluorescence microscopy on the infected animal’s fresh brain tissue. The tissues must be preserved by refrigeration and the sampling must include sections of the:

• Hippocampus
• Medulla oblongata
• Cerebellum.

A definitive diagnosis can be obtained with a few hours.

When an Animal Is Bitten

Individual states have established specific guidelines for animals that have been bitten and are potentially infected with the rabies virus.

When it is known that the bitten animal has been vaccinated for rabies, revaccinate immediately, confine and quarantine, according to established guidelines and to veterinary advice.

When the bitten animal has not been vaccinated or if vaccination is uncertain, state regulations should be followed, and the animal will either be euthanized or quarantined without any direct handling.

Information that provides a summary of individual state laws or local ordinances regarding rabies can be found at: https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Pages/rabies-vaccination.aspx. 

Rabies can infect any mammal and is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. With vaccines available for dogs, cats, ferrets, horses, cattle, and sheep, rabies doesn’t have to be a deadly disease.

Here’s some helpful information on vaccination you can pass along to your clients: “Why Vaccinate?”

Contact your Covetrus representative for vaccines, informational articles, and seminars at 855.724.3461 or online.

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/index.html 

The Merck Veterinary Manual, 8^th ed., Merck & Co., Inc. Whitehouse Station, NJ, U.S.A.

https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Pages/rabies-vaccination.aspx