Rabies Is Among Us!

The good news is that rabies is preventable. World Rabies Day is September 28. To celebrate, we want to provide ways you can help eliminate rabies and protect your pets.
Tips for rabies prevention in your neighborhood

1. Vaccinate your pets. Maryland law mandates that all cats, dogs and ferrets need to be vaccinated if they are 4 months and older. This includes indoor cats and dogs. See your local veterinarian or take your pet to a rabies clinic at Anne Arundel County Animal Care & Control to update their vaccine.

2. Do not feed or handle wild animals or wildlife. If you see an injured or orphaned animal, contact the Department of Natural Resources. Feeding foxes, raccoons and other wildlife will bring them in close contact to your pets and your family, increasing the risk of exposure. Keep trashcans and refuse containers tightly closed to eliminate food sources for wild animals near your home.

3.  Keep doors, windows and openings in the house, especially in attics, closed or sealed. Wildlife is known to enter homes through dog doors, and bats like to take up residence in attics. If you see a bat or evidence of bats in your home, call a professional exterminator to have them removed right away. Bats have small teeth, so it can be difficult to know if a human or animal was bitten, especially if it happened overnight during sleep.

4. Keep your pets on a leash and prevent roaming to reduce opportunities for contact with wildlife.

5. Rabies oral vaccine control programs have been implemented in Anne Arundel County to assist in preventing rabies in wildlife, especially juvenile raccoons. The annual ORV project will place approximately 84,500 baits containing rabies vaccine throughout the county in September. These efforts have significantly reduced the incidence of rabies in our area.

6. If your pet is bitten or comes in contact with an animal suspected to be rabid, wear gloves and long sleeves when handling your pet to prevent exposure to saliva from the potentially rabid animal that may be on your pet’s hair coat. Humans and animals can contract rabies if they have a cut or scrape that comes in contact with an infected animal’s saliva.

There are no preventative vaccines for people, so humans with exposure or suspected exposure need to be subject to costly and painful post-exposure vaccines. It is important to confine the wild animal if possible, and contact Animal Control immediately to test an animal suspected of having rabies.

Never bury or dispose of a deceased wild animal that has been in contact with pets or people. Contact Animal Control for testing. Be aware that the types of animals able to contract rabies include all mammals, and the diversity or reported rabid animal species continues to grow.

Visit the Anne Arundel County Health Department website at www.aahealth.org/rabies for more information on rabies prevention and resources. Anne Arundel County Animal Care & Control can be reached by calling 410-222-8900 and its website is www.aacounty.org/departments/animal-control.

VCA Calvert Veterinary Center has been serving Pasadena and surrounding communities for 15 years. The office is conveniently located at 4100 Mountain Road in Pasadena, Maryland. Call 410-360-7297 or visit www.calvertvet.com to schedule an appointment.