World Rabies Day Reminds Texans That Wildlife Can Spread Disease

By THC Staff | September 30, 2016

 

Since September 28 was World Rabies Day, there’s vital information going around the internet pertaining to this serious, and often misunderstood disease. Prweb.com notes a particularly important insight for Texans. Wildlife, like raccoons, skunks, bats, coyotes, and foxes can spread the disease to pets.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that pets should be kept up to date on their rabies vaccine and children (and some wreckless adults) should learn to leave wild animals alone and call animal control if they see an animal acting ill, or if a nocturnal animal is seen out and about during the day. (This includes bats and raccoons.)

Rabies is an awful disease that leads to death for animals as well as humans. Animals can easily spread the infection to a person through a bite or even a scratch. After someone comes down with the disease, they can die within days. Once a human gets rabies, it’s nearly always fatal. According to the CDC, “To date less than 10 documented cases of human survival from clinical rabies have been reported and only two have not had a history of pre- or postexposure prophylaxis.”

For the sake of animals and humans, it’s extremely important to learn about this awful disease.