VFD in the wild

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There's one person working at the CDC right now with clinical experience with rabies. One.

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.

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.

Happy new year! Please enjoy these littles, all whom I was told had been born within the past 24 hours: a white-beared wildebeest, a capybara, and a Preswalski's horse.

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