Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of our weekly Talk to the Vet column, where we will discuss and unpack all things around the rabies disease, which is a major global concern as it is zoonotic, which means it can spread from animals to humans and vice versa.
It is an acute viral infection of the nervous system that mainly affects carnivores, kudu, humans and small stock; just to mention but a few.
Rabies is found throughout the world, although a few countries are declared rabies-free and Namibia is aiming to attain such status by 2035 with constant vaccination programmes being conducted throughout the country for free.
The most reliable indicators of rabies are sudden and severe behavioural changes and unexplained paralysis that worsens over time. Behavioural changes can include sudden loss of appetite, signs of apprehension or nervousness, irritability, hyperexcitability, excess salivation and inability to swallow due to progressive paralysis.
An animal infected with rabies will seek solitude, or an otherwise unfriendly animal may become friendly. Uncharacteristic aggressiveness can develop, and wild animals may lose their fear of people as seen in many cases with kudus.
Young pups seek human companionship and are overly playful, but will bite even when petted and become vicious within a few hours. Rabies is almost always fatal (deadly) when signs appear.
An animal showing these typical signs should be reported at your nearest veterinarian where euthanasia is done and the brain sent for laboratory analysis and confirmation.
Transmission is usually by the bite of an infected animal when the saliva containing the rabies virus is introduced into the body. The virus can be in the body for weeks before signs develop. Most cases in dogs develop within 21 to 80 days after exposure.
When a person is exposed to an animal suspected of rabies, the risk of rabies transmission should be evaluated carefully. Any healthy domestic dog, cat, or ferret, whether vaccinated or not, that bites a person or otherwise deposits saliva into a fresh wound, should be confined for 10 days for observation.
If the animal develops signs within those 10 days, it should be promptly euthanized and submitted for testing. Although fatal once clinical signs appear, rabies is entirely avoidable; vaccines, medicines and technologies have long been available to prevent death from rabies.
Nevertheless, rabies still kills tens of thousands of people each year. Of these cases, approximately 99% are acquired from the bite of an infected dog.
Dog-mediated human rabies can be eliminated by tackling the disease at its source: infected dogs. Making people aware of how to avoid the bites of rabid dogs, seek treatment when bitten and vaccinate animals can successfully disrupt the rabies transmission
cycle.
Rabies is estimated to cause 59 000 human deaths annually in over 150 countries, with 95% of cases occurring in Africa and Asia. Due to underreporting and uncertain estimates, this number is likely a gross underestimate. Please ensure that you go to your nearest clinic or hospital if you get bitten by a dog.
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