So I happened across this little tidbit
...
There's one person working at the CDC right now with clinical experience with rabies. One.
I'm sure with the rise in anti-vaccine sentiment, especially regarding the rabies vaccine, this won't have any potentially dangerous repercussions...
Pausing testing is bad news, yes. Because then we don't get federal-level rabies prevalence data.
This isn't solely down to anti-vaxxer sentiment, though. This is the same type of intentional gutting of public health that this administration is famous for and that does end up endangering human health. Individual states and municipalities still require rabies vaccination for domestic animals and will issue fines if you don't get your pets vaccinated. But a pre-exposure rabies vaccine isn't typically given to human beings unless they are intentionally placing themselves in an environment where the risk of contracting rabies is higher (e.g., a scientist studying bats or a wildlife rehabilitation specialist).
Human rabies vaccination is typically post-exposure prophylaxis (a series of shots after suspected exposure to the virus). What pausing rabies surveillance does is blind us to current and future rabies outbreaks in animal populations, which then raises the likelihood of increased rabies exposure in humans.
This fucking sucks but the advice remains the same: if you are bitten by ANY feral or wild animal, go get rabies prophylaxis. I had a friend who was bitten by a feral kitten. I still told her to get rabies shots, which she did. Because once you start showing symptoms, you are already dead. Don't fuck around with rabies.
As a registered veterinary technician, my anti-vaccine comment was about domestic cats and dogs. Which is why I was sarcastically saying that that growing sentiment and now this lack of testing surely won't have any repercussions.
It's the rabies vaccine legally required for dogs and cats? Yes.
Are there communities online that make fake rabies certificates that I've seen people admit to using? Yes.
Are some counties/cities so backed up and understaffed that there are people who have never received something telling them to license their dog and people use that as an excuse to not get the rabies vaccine? Yes.
Do people have outdoor cats that they simply never take to the vet? Yes.
Do many breeders tell people to delay or even avoid the rabies vaccine entirely? Yes.
Are there people who refuse to vaccinate that vet clinics will still see their pets? Yes. And since I'm the only rabies vaccinated tech at my work I get to handle these animals yaaaaay
