Friday, September 28, 2012

World Rabies Day,28 September 2012-Rabies: Simple Steps Save Lives

http://www.sanofipasteur.com/articles/picture/1147-rd-annual-world-rabies-day-webinar-september

World Rabies Day

28 September 2012

World Rabies Day highlights the impact of human and animal rabies and promotes how to prevent and stop the disease by combating it in animals. Sponsors - the Alliance for Rabies Control and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - report that 55 000 people die every year from rabies, an average of one death every 10 minutes. 

There are safe and effective vaccines available for people who have been bitten by an animal that might have the disease, but usage in developing countries is low due to the high cost. 

 It may surprise some people to know that rabies is still "out there" and still very much a threat to animals and humans around the world. Since 2007, September 28th has been designated World Rabies Day to increase awareness and address prevention and control of this fatal disease.

 Rabies Still A Threat

People and animals are infected by the rabies virus and die from rabies each year.

 "Each year around the world, rabies results in more than 55,000 deaths - approximately one death every 10 minutes. Most deaths are reported from Africa and Asia with almost 50% of the victims being children under the age of 15."

What is Rabies or 'hydrophobia' :

 Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in warm-blooded animals.[ The disease is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from one species to another, such as from dogs to humans, commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death

The rabies virus travels to the brain by following the peripheral nerves. The incubation period of the disease is usually a few months in humans, depending on the distance the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system.Once the rabies virus reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the infection is effectively untreatable and usually fatal within days.

How Rabies is Spread:

Most often, the rabies virus is spread via bite wounds. The virus lives in the saliva of infected animals, and is passed into the tissues of the victim after getting bitten. The virus can also be spread by getting the virus-laden saliva in an open wound, splashed in an eye, or other mucous membrane, such as the mouth. Rabies may be spread between animals and humans, wildlife and pets.

What You Can Do

The first step is to vaccinate your pets. Rabies is a preventable disease, but 100% fatal in unvaccinated animals. Visit the World Rabies Day site for more ways to be involved in promoting rabies awareness and eradication..

 Prevention 

All human cases of rabies were fatal until a vaccine was developed in 1885 by Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux. Their original vaccine was harvested from infected rabbits, from which the virus in the nerve tissue was weakened by allowing it to dry for five to 10 days.Similar nerve tissue-derived vaccines are still used in some countries, as they are much cheaper than modern cell culture vaccines.

The human diploid cell rabies vaccine was started in 1967; a new and less expensive purified chicken embryo cell vaccine and purified vero cell rabies vaccine are now available.A recombinant vaccine called V-RG has been successfully used in Belgium, France, Germany, and the US to prevent outbreaks of rabies in undomesticated animals. Currently, immunization prior to exposure has been used in both human and nonhuman populations, where, as in many jurisdictions, domesticated animals are required to be vaccinated.



In the US, since the widespread vaccination of domestic dogs and cats and the development of effective human vaccines and immunoglobulin treatments, the number of recorded human deaths from rabies has dropped from 100 or more annually in the early 20th century, to one to two per year, mostly caused by bat bites, which may go unnoted by the victim and hence untreated.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Communicable Disease Surveillance 2007 Annual Report states the following can help reduce the risk of exposure to rabies:
  • Vaccinating dogs, cats, rabbits, and ferrets against rabies
  • Keeping pets under supervision
  • Not handling wild animals or strays
  • Contacting an animal control officer upon observing a wild animal or a stray, especially if the animal is acting strangely
  • Washing the wound with soap and water for 10 to 15 minutes, if bitten by an animal, and contacting a healthcare provider to determine if post exposure prophylaxis is required
September 28 is World Rabies Day, which promotes information on, and prevention and elimination of the disease.

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