Rabies, which is a zoonotic viral disease, is an invariably fatal disease. This disease has been in the scene right from the beginning of historical times and is a matter of fear till date. In humans, this disease is usually caused by the bite of the infected animals. And, 98% of all the human rabies cases were known to have been caused by the bite of rabid dogs. It’s to be noted that this disease is seen all over the globe and can affect all the mammals. Rabies has been eradicated as an important public health risk in various parts of the developed world. But still, as many as 55,000 deaths are reported every year from those parts.

Current Status of Rabies

As mentioned earlier, around 55,000 deaths are reported each year in the countries where the disease has been claimed as eradicated. However, it is believed that these are not the actual numbers. The reliable data showing the actual incidence of human rabies exposure are scant or nonexistent in several countries. Therefore, several cases from other parts of the world are believed to be under-reported. As a result of this, the impacts of rabies are often neglected by policymakers thereby, resulting in insufficient pressure to implement rabies control measures. It has been estimated that around 59,000 deaths are happening each year due to canine rabies and most of the time, the victims are found to be children from the Asian, African, and Latin American continents.

Cats Replacing Dogs in the United States

In the United States, an estimated number of 39,000 people are receiving post exposure prophylaxis for rabies each year. As mentioned earlier, domestic, as well as feral dogs are accounting for most of the deaths, as well as post exposure prophylaxis all over the world. And, injectable vaccination has been the single most important way of controlling rabies in people. But, now, the cats are found to be replacing the dogs as the most common rabid animal. The increase in the number of rabies cases due to cats can be considered as the reflection of less number of cats being vaccinated for rabies.

In the recent years, there has been more exposure of humans to rabid cats and/or kittens in the country. A well-reported exposure took place in the year 2007 during which as many as 27 people were identified as having exposures that demanded post-exposure prophylaxis. It’s to be noted that the rabies-causing virus not only spread through bites. The infected animal’s saliva is the major source of the virus and it can be contracted when a person comes into close contacts with the infected animal. Therefore, other than bites, the possibilities can contact with scratches and licks on broken skin/mucous membrane. Thus, the outbreak that was reported during 2007 was due to the handling of a rabid kitten that was seen in a trash barrel during a sports event.

It’s to be noted that cats are commonly infected with the raccoon variant of the virus following a raccoon attack. The cats are getting exposed to raccoons as the raccoons have adapted well to the suburban and semi-urban environments.

Prevention of Rabies

In humans, the prevention of rabies is quite complicated. Once an individual gets infected with rabies virus in the absence of post exposure prophylaxis, the disease is fatal. While it’s true that post exposure prophylaxis with modern vaccines and whenever needed rabies immunoglobulin is effective in a majority of cases, several people still die. It’s because most of the people who contract to canine rabies would also lack the necessary resources to prevent or treat rabies exposure. Most of the affected people are children and a majority of them are not receiving the necessary immunoglobulin due to the perennial global shortage and due to its high price. Thus, it remains unaffordable and/or unavailable in nations where canine rabies is endemic.

Keeping up with Vaccinations

There are several things that can be done to protect the pets from rabies. Firstly, visiting the veterinarian with the pets on a regular basis and keeping up with vaccinations are important for dogs, cats, and ferrets. Although most of the pet owners are able to understand that importance of getting their pets on vaccinations, once in a while, they raise the question that their pets are always indoors and why they should be vaccinated. To all of them, having a pet without vaccinating with rabies vaccination will be harmful to him/her and also for others who are in contact with them.

Also, it’s important to understand that still there are stray animals out there that are not vaccinated and hence, having higher chances of contracting the virus. Therefore, the pet owners must ensure that they are up with rabies vaccinations for their pets. Also, they must ensure that their pets are not brought in close contact with the stray animals. The preventive measures like these would save the pets, as well as the humans from this deadly disease.