Eastern Shore Health District Rabies Clinic a Big Success

The Eastern Shore Health District would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s low cost rabies clinics held in Accomack and Northampton Counties. 296 dogs were vaccinated and 146 cats were vaccinated for a total of 442 pets that benefitted from the clinics.

According to the CDC, most case of  rabies occur in wildlife, however most “humans are given rabies vaccine as a result of exposure to domestic animals. This explains the tremendous cost of rabies prevention in domestic animals in the United States”.

While wildlife are more likely to be rabid than are domestic animals in the United States, “the amount of human contact with domestic animals greatly exceeds the amount of contact with wildlife. Your pets and other domestic animals can be infected when they are bitten by rabid wild animals. When “spillover” rabies occurs in domestic animals, the risk to humans is increased. Pets are vaccinated by your veterinarian to prevent them from acquiring the disease from wildlife, and thereby transmitting it to humans”.