December 8, 2023
going to the dogs
Worldwide, unvaccinated children are vulnerable and dying from preventable diseases. Much of that is from disruption in supply and infrastructure during COVID. Diseases are spreading without the protection of immunizations. In the US, it’s not the supply chain but vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine exemptions for kindergartens are rising, which puts the more vulnerable at risk because of the loss of herd immunity.
Now that same vaccine hesitancy is spreading to our pets. Canine Vaccine Hesitancy (CVH) is when owners have similar skepticism about safety and efficacy of vaccinating their pets that they have with vaccines for humans. The hesitancy and refusal is demoralizing to veterinarians, just like it is to physicians and other health care workers.
It is also risking public health. This rabid anti-vaccine reaction threatens to spread the actual disease of rabies. Putting humans at risk. I was fascinated (and alarmed) by this story about a rabid kitten in Omaha, Nebraska. The kitten had a raccoon strain of rabies that had only been found in Appalachia. The CDC, Douglas County Health officials, and wildlife biologists responded vigorously to the threat. Using traps, lures, and rabies vaccines to help protect the many raccoons that live in Omaha, hoping to prevent spread. Looking for the source, but haven’t found it yet. They don’t yet know how the kitten, an adoptee, had been infected.
This shows the importance of having a strong local public health department and federal agencies. The owners and vets involved with care of the kitten were immunized and given rabies immunoglobulin which protect them. We must continue to support these entities.
Vaccine hesitancy itself is another story, but I cannot imagine not wanting to protect Barlow or others from this horrific disease. Who among us didn’t cry reading or watching “Old Yeller?”
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https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/health/kindergarten-vaccine-exemptions/index.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X23010150
https://thebulletin.org/2023/09/rabid-anti-vaxxers-could-help-spread-deadly-disease/