4601 N. Main 281-422-2821
Animal Medical Center
of Baytown
(formerly Park Street Animal Hospital)
Texas Ranks Number 1
As you fellow Texans know, everything is bigger and better in Texas. Unfortunately Texas ranks number 1 in rabies cases in 2008 as reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Texas had 1022 cases of rabies, nearly doubling second place Virginia which came in with 622. Obviously, Texas is big and that is a factor in making the state first in rabies cases.
Texas has a large wildlife habitat with many of these animals being susceptible to rabies. According to the CDC, 90% of all rabies cases occur in wild animals – primarily bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes. However, most people are exposed to rabies due to close contact with domestic animals, mainly cats and dogs. Interestingly, cats are more likely to expose humans to rabies than dogs: cat exposure is almost 4 to 1 in favor of cats.
Cats expose more people than dogs partially because they get vaccinated less. Cats are twice as likely not to visit the veterinarian as dogs. Additionally, cat owners have a specific concern about vaccines causing tumors (I personally don’t see this as an over-riding concern).
With rabies on the rise, don’t forget to protect your pet and your family with routine vaccination. As you all probably know, post-exposure treatment of humans is painful and expensive.
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