World Rabies Day is Designated for Sept. 8

Rabies is a very serious, even deadly disease that can be prevented. September 8 has been designated World Rabies Day according to a PRN Newswire release. The new international event will launch global efforts to eliminate the dangerous and mostly fatal disease of rabies. The 1st ever World Rabies Day will include participation from Canada, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, Thailand, Ethiopia, South Africa, Germany, Haiti, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These statistics were made available by the August 5 issue of the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association.

Rabies killed 55,000 people around the world last year. Three of those deaths were in the U.S. There is a vaccination available to prevent Canine Rabies. Human rabies can be prevented and Wild-life Rabies can be controlled. Canine Rabies is wide spread in Asia, Mexico, Africa and parts of Latin America where the control of dogs is difficult. Rabies can be spread from dogs, cats, bats, raccoons, and skunks.

In the United States rabies is most often spread from bat to human. The bite of a bat is often small or unnoticeable and can go undetected as people are often bit while they are asleep. Rabies is most often found in the U.S. in the bat population. There were 7,000 confirmed cases of animal rabies in the U.S. last year with 3 deaths of humans confirmed. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where rabies is not found. In 15 out of 23 diagnosed cases of rabies, the infection was attributed to bats. Rabies is found on all continents except Antarctica.

Signs and symptoms of rabies: The signs and symptoms of rabies are non-specific. Fever, anxiety and extreme malaise are some of the symptoms. The incubation of rabies can be anywhere from 20-60 days until symptoms appear.

Care after exposure: Thorough washing of the wound is an absolute necessity, immediately after exposure. Receiving the anti-serum and the vaccination is vital to a patients survival.

Pre-exposure vaccinations for the rabies virus is crucial for anyone who might be exposed to the rabies virus through their employment, or while traveling.

World Rabies Day will lead off with the World Rabies Day Symposium and Expo to be held on Sept. 7, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Speakers for the event will consist of Wildlife Services of the USDA, the National Center for Zoonotic, the Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases and the Pan-American Health Organization. The subject will be, "The Challenges of Rabies Control". Jeana Giese, the world's 1st rabies survivor, will share her personal experiences with the disease and her treatment. You can learn more about rabies and World Rabies Day by clicking on this link.

Sources for this article are as follows:
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-14-2007/0004645589&EDATE=
www.worldrabiesday.org
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/aug07/070815l.asp