Why is it so important to give this vaccine to your dog or cat?

According to WHO data, more than 150 countries are still affected by rabies, which kills one person every 9 minutes. In the case of Spain, there was a decades-long war against rabies that was not won until 1975. Rabies epidemiological report in our country, Produced by pharmaceutical company MSD Animal Health, we are at a “high” risk of an outbreak due to a “low dog vaccination rate”.

So far in Spain, the autonomies decide the vaccination strategy against rabies. It is compulsory in all national territories except Galicia, Basque Country and Catalonia. Also, in Asturias, vaccination was only required for potentially dangerous dogs.

That being the case, vaccination coverage is very low in Spain, even where it is mandatory. However, as the authors of the above-mentioned report point out, Vaccination rate below 70% Not only is it a risk to the autonomous community that decides not to vaccinate, it also significantly affects the immunity of the population (known as herd immunity)”.

Rabies in humans is usually produced by the entry of the rabies virus through wounds caused by animal bites or, more rarely, by the entry of infected saliva on contact with a mucosal surface. It is a disease with a mortality rate of 99% once it occurs in humans and We are neighbors of countries where rabies is endemic in Spain.

Ukraine, for example, is a country with cases of this disease, and despite having control over all pets coming from abroad, the vaccination rate is still so low, any event would be very alarmingas the report points out.

In this regard, in addition to the recent cases in Ceuta and Melilla, with the arrival of refugees’ pets in recent months, most of the missing communities have been included in the list of mandatory vaccinations. a) Yes, Asturias now requires all dogs, cats and ferrets to be vaccinated against rabies. Generalitat has established it for pets susceptible to infecting and infecting humans.

Basque Government last month mandatory vaccination, Pet owners were not effective in gaining herd immunity after release. Now only Galicia is left, where there are no mandatory vaccinations.

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