What is the science and the law surrounding rabies vaccination?

Kansas State University has compiled research to show that an animal with an overdue rabies vaccination when exposed to a rabid animal can then be given a rabies vaccination and be clear of the disease. This is huge news! Because before this if you found yourself in a situation where your animal was overdue for rabies vaccination and exposed to a rabid animal, the choices open to you were forced euthanasia or extended quarantine.

To read an excellent blog article about this go to: http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/123835271561/rabies-vaccine-law#.Vduxe0Uzuvk.

And read below:

BROCKTON – Last October, a Brockton resident faced a difficult decision when her dog was bitten by a rabid skunk 10 days after her pet’s rabies vaccine had lapsed.

State law is strict when it comes to rabies exposure. She either had to put the dog down or quarantine it for three months in a kennel, followed by three months of “strict confinement” at home.

Ultimately, the Scott Road resident decided to euthanize her 10-year-old Schnauzer mix.

At the time, a story about the ordeal in The Enterprise prompted experts in veterinarian science and immunology to criticize the state’s rules, arguing that vaccine expirations create an “arbitrary” deadline that can force pet owners to make an unnecessary choice between expensive quarantine procedures and killing their animals.

This month, a scientific study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association provides data that supports those concerns. And David Kirkpatrick, a spokesman for the association, said that the Brockton story helped frame the study’s public roll-out this week.

In its press release outlining the study, the AVMA, one of the oldest and largest veterinary medical organizations in the world, describes the Brockton rabies story and goes on to say that it was “situations such as this that prompted a group of researchers to embark on a study to see whether rganizations in the world, describes the Brockton rabies story and goes on to say that it was “situations such as this that prompted a group of researchers to embark on a study to see whether they could make a difference and help avoid similar cases in the future.”

“The general public gets to see cases like this once a year,” said Dr. Mike Moore, project manager for the rabies lab at the Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the report’s lead author. “We get calls like this – if not weekly – every other week. I was a practicing veterinarian for 23 years, and it’s really, really sad for me not to be able to help these people.”

According to the study – which tested 74 dogs and 33 cats – pets whose rabies vaccination were considered out-of-date at the time of exposure to a rabid animal responded well after receiving an immediate rabies booster and did not develop any signs of the illness.

This demonstrated to researchers that the following guidelines should be considered: immediate booster vaccination followed by observation for 45 days of dogs and cats with an out-of-date vaccination status that are exposed to rabies, as is the current practice for dogs and cats with current vaccination status.

Joseph Markman may be reached at jmarkman@enterprisenews.com.