Rabies has recently been in the news due to a human death
from a rabid bat in Minnesota one of two human deaths in
Minnesota over the past decade. For complete details, go
to the Minnesota Department of Health press release:
The rabies virus
is present all over the world except for a few select places.
Here in the western US rabies is perceived as a smaller
problem due to the fact that terrestrial rabies (rabies
in non-flying animals) was previously found only in the
eastern/southeastern states. However, terrestrial rabies
has been slowly spreading across the US over the past 10-15
years; there were two reported cases of rabies in foxes
in Oregon in 2006. However, bats remain the most significant
source of rabies in the western US.
We at Crater Animal Clinic strongly recommend rabies vaccination
of dogs, cats and ferrets, not only for their own protection,
but for human health risk as well. We also recommend rabies
vaccination for any horses that will be traveling to more
rabies endemic areas of the US (east coast, Texas, the southern
states,
etc.). Currently, rabies vaccination is only required in
dogs in Jackson county. Interestingly enough, there were
4.5 times more cases of cat rabies in the US last year than
dogs. For this reason, Crater Animal Clinic strongly recommends
having your cat consistently vaccinated for maximum protection.
To see our vaccine recommendations for cats, click
here. To see a chart of rabies positive cases in the
US by state, please go to page 4 of the Rabies Surveillance
Report for 2006 by the CDC:
For more information on the rabies virus and thorough answers
to the most common questions about how to deal with dog
or cat bites, potential exposure (both humans and pets)
to rabies, how to deal with bats and more, please visit
the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/
. This is a great page with very current, up-to-date news.
If you have any questions about vaccinating your pets or
want to set up an appointment, please call us, 779-0951.
Rabies has recently been in the news due to a human death
from a rabid bat in Minnesota one of two human deaths in
Minnesota over the past decade. For complete details, go
to the Minnesota Department of Health press release:
states,
etc.). Currently, rabies vaccination is only required in
dogs in Jackson county. Interestingly enough, there were
4.5 times more cases of cat rabies in the US last year than
dogs. For this reason, Crater Animal Clinic strongly recommends
having your cat consistently vaccinated for maximum protection.
To see our vaccine recommendations for cats, 
For more information on the rabies virus and thorough answers
to the most common questions about how to deal with dog
or cat bites, potential exposure (both humans and pets)
to rabies, how to deal with bats and more, please visit
the CDC website at 