Rabies Outbreak in Angola

So our adventures in the newly created dog park in my neck of the woods have proved to be well worth all the hassle of getting licenses and shots for my dogs. Though they will only issue me two off leash permits, I have solved that problem by keeping Amos on leash most of the time since he rarely wanders anyway. All is well and my battle with City Hall was actually rather mild in the end. They even were going to waive my need to get kennel cough shots for my non-boarding animals but in the end I ended up vaccinating them anyway.

Which brings me to a startling article in the New York Times about a rabies outbreak in Angola that has killed 93 children to date. I think we in the U.S. forget that rabies is a lethal disease because we have become so good at preventing it.

The outbreak occurred in Luanda, the capital of Angola, and is blamed on roaming packs of dogs that frequent the very prevalent slums of the city. Officials actually believe that deaths from rabies are actually much higher than reported since that figure was based on one hospital.

In a country that is very poor, vaccinations for dogs as well as humans are almost non-existent. Part may be due to a shortage of human rabies vaccine since one of the Sanofi Pasteur factories where it is produced is under renovation. Part may simply be due to lack of money. It costs about $50 per person for the human rabies vaccine.

As for the dogs, well reports have been contradictory. Some say that dogs were rounded up, vaccinated and then released once they were found to be rabies free. The problem is that the true test for rabies is based on a brain sample that can only be obtained after the animal has died.

Many years ago, we had a dog who was bitten by a raccoon. When they sent the raccoon brain ample away, it was found to be "inconclusive" for rabies. My super cautious vet advised that we quarantine our vaccinated dog for about a month, which we did since we had small children at the time. All I can remember her saying was that we did not want to subject our children to such a horrible disease. Everything worked out fine in the end--the dog was none the worse for the quarantine and he was perfectly healthy, thanks to the vaccine.

Was it overkill? Maybe. But when I hear about 93 children dying from what she told me I never wanted to see, my heart skips a beat. What a tragedy on all levels.