Rabies is not a disease of the past. Today it still affects more than 150 countries and, according to WHO data, kills one person every 9 minutes.
And although it is said that every year we should vaccinate all our dogs, cats and ferrets… in Spain we do not even have a uniform annual vaccination protocol against a rabies outbreak.
And it is that, as denounced by the experts: “there is an immense and unacceptable variation both in the mandatory nature and in the protocols, according to the autonomous communities.”
In Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia it is not mandatory, and in Asturias only for potentially dangerous dogs.
And that is one of the main reasons that has led the Epidemiological Study of Rabies, promoted by , to affirm that Spain is at high risk of suffering a rabies outbreak.
The three fundamental reasons on which this statement is based are:
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We are neighbors of countries where rabies is endemic, and that is why we have cases located in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
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Ukraine is a country where there is rabies, and many refugees leave with their pets, although in Spain there is control over all those who arrive.
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The vaccination rate is so small that any incident would be very worrying.
Very low vaccination numbers
And it is that, as stated in , there are Communities in which, since the vaccine is not mandatory, the percentages are very worrying. For example:
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Catalonia, 11.51%
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Galician, 9.37%
The downside is that not even where it is mandatory do we reach desirable percentages. And so we find vaccination rates such as:
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Aragon, 63.7%
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Valencian Community, 59.2%
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Navarre, 32.5%
For this reason, specialists want to take advantage of the World Rabies Day, which is celebrated every September 28, to encourage us to protect our pets from this “highly deadly” virus.
He Dr. Fernando Farinasimmunologist and co-author of the study, specifies that:
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“An immunization rate of less than 70 percent is not only a risk for the autonomous community that decides not to vaccinate, but also has a notable influence on population immunity (herd immunity) in the rest of the country.”
viral disease
The Rage is a viral infectious disease It kills nearly 60,000 people worldwide each year.
It is caused by a family of viruses that infects animals, plants, fungi, and protists (those that are not any of the other three). And it is a public health problem in more than 150 countries.
The WHO intends to eradicate this disease before 2030, and Spain has been a rabies-free country since 1978. But so far this year five imported and very isolated cases have been detected in Melilla. And experts attribute it to its proximity to Morocco, where it is present.
These imported cases of rabies usually occur in dogs and horses.
It is a zoonosis (animal disease that is transmitted to people) that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
For the most part, this virus is transmitted by domestic dogs, although it is true that it can also affect wild animals.
And what is more important:
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It can be prevented by administering a rabies vaccine.
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But it is practically deadly in all cases.
Is the rabies vaccine mandatory?
In Spain, the rabies vaccine is the only one that we have to administer to our pets, with the exception of three autonomous communities, where it is simply a recommendation, and a fourth, Asturias, in which it is only mandatory for potentially dangerous dogs.
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Galicia
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Basque Country
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Catalonia
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Asturias.
But, as he clarifies Alejandra Rojas, veterinarian and a professor at Nubika, these differences are mainly “for administrative reasons, since in practice the vaccine is necessary to move between autonomous communities, and also to leave the country.”
In recent months, due to the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, the Colleges of Veterinarians have asked for extreme caution and mandatory vaccination, since they come from a country that is not free of the virus.
However, experts consider that this reality should not cause fear:
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“No animal can enter our country (whether by air, land or sea) if it does not have the rabies vaccine. It is a European regulation.”
What happens is that Spain is one of the most “flexible” countries. Because in others in our environment, in addition to the vaccination card, “they require that all pets present an antibody test that certifies their immunity against rabies.”
How is rabies transmitted?
Rabies is spread through the saliva of infected animals, which can transmit the virus by biting or even deep scratching a person or another animal, if there is subsequent contact with their saliva, such as a lick.
As warned by the World Health Organization (WHO), the main source of transmission in humans are dogs, in 99% of cases.
The incubation period for rabies can be from 2 to 8 weeks, although it can be reduced to as little as 10 days.
But are not the only ones. And indeed, bat rabies has become a dangerous threat in the Americas, Australia, and Western Europe.
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