Thursday 19 May 2022 09:07 PM Rabies could return to the US despite strict vaccine regulations, CDC warns trends now
Rabies could be re-imported into the U.S. due to improper vaccinations, health officials warned Thursday, after a five-month-old rescue puppy from Azerbaijan tested positive for the virus last year despite meeting import requirements.
The disease — which triggers seizures and frothing at the mouth — was eradicated in the U.S. in 2003, but has re-entered five times over the last 15 years.
Last year's case where a puppy fell ill just three days after arriving with its adopted family in Pennsylvania was blamed on faulty paperwork.
The animal was certified to have been inoculated against rabies in Azerbaijan, but testing revealed it and seven others out of the 33 dogs and one cat brought across the border had not been fully vaccinated.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials imposed a ban on importing dogs from 109 high-risk countries last year — including four in eastern Europe.
But it is due to expire later this year, with the CDC calling for blood tests to be put in place at ports to confirm all imported animals from high-risk areas are vaccinated.
Rabies is passed on through the bites of infected animals. It is fatal in virtually every case without treatment, with victims symptoms progressing from a fever to seizures in days.
CDC officials are warning that rabies could be re-imported into the United States. There is no suggestion that the above puppy has rabies
The warning was revealed in a scientific paper published in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC.
Lead author Dr Florence Whitehill, an animal diseases expert at the CDC, and colleagues said: 'A requirement for rabies vaccination certificates alone will not adequately identify improper vaccination practices or fraudulent paperwork and is insufficient as a stand-alone rabies importation prevention measure.
'[Blood] testing of animals from high-risk countries and electronic reporting of results directly from prequalified laboratories before arrival in the United States should be considered to mitigate the risk of importing [rabies].'
