Five hundred and
four pets -- 87 cats and 417 dogs -- were
vaccinated for rabies at the Fairfield
County Rabies Clinic held at the Fairfield
County Fairgrounds Sunday, May 3. Fairfield
County regulations require that all dogs and
cats are vaccinated for rabies. The rabies
vaccine helps prevent the spread of the
rabies virus to pet dogs or cats if they
were ever to be exposed to a rabid animal.
Veterinarians
from Morris Veterinary Clinic and Fairfield
Pet Hospital volunteered to give the
immunizations. Residents and many Fairfield
Department of Health staff volunteered for
the clinic as well.
Fairfield County
regulations require that all dogs and cats are
vaccinated for rabies. The rabies vaccine
helps prevent the spread of the rabies virus to
your pet dog or cat if they were ever to be
exposed to a rabid animal.
Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals
most often transmitted through the bite of a
rabid animal. The majority of rabies cases
reported in Ohio occur in wild animals like
raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes.
Domestic animals account for less than 10% of
the reported rabies cases, with cats, cattle and
dogs most often reported rabid. In 2008,
of the 235 animal bites reported to The
Fairfield Department of Health, investigations
showed that no animals tested positive for
rabies.
Sanitarians at the Fairfield Department of
Health monitor for rabies transmission in
Fairfield County, and last year (2008) sanitarians
investigated:
-
188 dog
bites
-
42 cat
bites
-
1 rodent
bite
-
3 bat
bites
-
1
opossum bite
For more information, please call 740-653-4489.
