rabies

Did you know that rabies is responsible for the death of one person worldwide every 10 minutes? Children are affected by rabies more than every other age group with approximately 100 children, primarily in Asia and Africa, dying each and every day. In the United States, where there are strict requirements for rabies vaccinations in domestic animals, we still diagnose, on average, from one to three cases of rabies in humans each year.

Does your cow appear to be choking? Think twice before extending your arm down the animal’s throat bare handed to look for a foreign body. One of the most common ways for ranchers, farmers, and veterinarians to be exposed to rabies is through exposure to a supposedly choked cow.

Rabies is a virus that may infect the central nervous system of any warm blooded animal. Rabies is typically spread by the saliva from infected animals. Horses are most likely to contract rabies by the bite of a wild carnivore, bats, or unvaccinated cats. Rabies is essentially 100% fatal once clinical signs attributed to the disease are exhibited.

In the year 2001 there were nearly 7,500 cases of rabies that were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. Of those cases, 51 were members of the Equine Family.