In the News - May 2008
Now is the time to vaccinate pets against rabies
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. - Now that warm weather has arrived, owners need to
vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies, says Mark Keaton, Baxter County
extension agent with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Early spring is a dangerous time for pets because skunks - the primary
carriers of rabies - are most active.
"March usually has the highest number of rabies cases because male skunks are
searching for mates and females are looking for dens to raise their young," says
Keaton.
State law requires that cats and dogs in Arkansas be vaccinated against
rabies by a licensed veterinarian.
"This not only protects the animal," says Keaton, "but also acts as a barrier
between wildlife exposures of rabies and people, as pets are more likely than
humans to be directly exposed to a rabid skunk."
Keaton provides rabies statistics for Arkansas:
- 2000 through 2007: 388 confirmed cases of rabies in animals
- 2004: one human death from rabies
- 2007: 33 lab-confirmed cases of rabies in animals
- 2008: through April 4, 11 lab-confirmed cases of rabies in animals
(one bat, one goat, one dog and eight skunks)
Children should be reminded not to touch wild animals and to stay away from
stray pets.
"If someone is bitten by an animal, an effort should be made to preserve the
animal’s head," says Keaton. "Rabies is a virus affecting the central nervous
system, traveling up nerves to the brain, so state Health Department officials
need to examine the brain."
If an animal bite does occur, call your county Health Department or the
Epizootic Disease Program, State Department of Health at Little Rock at (501)
661-2264 or (501) 661-2597.
For more information about rabies, contact your county extension agent or
visit www.uaex.edu and search for Rabies. The Cooperative
Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
May 9, 2008
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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