Rabies is a well-known disease, mostly due to the fact that it can be transferred between dogs and humans. Rabies spreads from direct contact of bodily fluids, for example the saliva of an infected animal inside a bite wound. While rabies is not as common in the US anymore due to vaccination requirements, other countries still face fatal outcomes still with human-animal rabies transfers. WHO, World Health Organization, identified dogs as the main sources of human rabies deaths, contributing to 99 percent of all transmissions to humans at a rate of 59,000 people a year. The deaths most commonly occur in Asia and Africa (95 percent of the cases), where the wild dog population lacks proper vaccination to eradicate the disease. In America we see bats as the major cause of human rabies death since dog-human transfers have mostly been out-vaccinated.
In America, rabies vaccines are regulated by individual states or towns. Particularly with this vaccine, requiring unnecessary boosters which aren’t needed for immunity and can bring harmful side effects. One consistent factor to the rabies vaccine across America is the use of an inactive vaccine. In the past, MLV versions of the rabies vaccine were available but saw even more adverse side-effects than before. Since the rabies vaccine is an inactive virus, it does not hold as much immunity as the other core vaccines, which is the outdated reasoning behind requiring a booster every one to three years. The vaccine does provide a shorter duration of immunity but recent studies suggest that a rabies vaccine provides adequate protection for at least five years.
There are two duration rabies vaccines administered across the US for domesticated dogs. The vaccines contain the same components however one is labeled to have three years of immunity while the other only claims to have one year immunity. One of the most flagrant examples of financial corruption in the pet industry that provides no benefit to our dogs while harming them. This labeling practice has misled both consumers and lawmakers into creating bad policy without basis for its existence. Here at Wise Woofs we are planning to raise our voice on this issue in the near future to advocate for change. We are pleased to say and support the causes of UC Davis and Penn State Veterinary Schools by developing a titer test for rabies in canines. In our experience much of the community, both dog parents and professionals aren’t aware this titer test exists. If you’d like to measure the antibody levels of the rabies vaccine in your dog a blood sample can be sent into their labs for analysis.
Take a look at this map from World Health Organization.
