First Posted: 3/29/2013

not on web

I watched a recent news show that depicted hundreds of people standing in line with their animals in Wake and Durham counties. Recent attacks by rabid wild animals had alerted pet owners to get the necessary vaccinations.

At first I was amazed at the response and thought that it was kind of cool. Then it hit me, people in those counties were no more compliant with the state rabies vaccination requirement than people in Robeson County. Robeson has recently had confirmed cases in Marietta and Parkton — one can easily assume there are plenty of rabid animals in-between. Unlike Wake or Durham, Robeson has fewer people and more geography so running into a rabid animal is less common. But that does not mean the prevalence is any less.

The six local veterinary practices in Robeson County offer a required county-wide clinic annually during which rabies vaccinations are provided at costs and this year it is on April 12 and April 13. In fact, they go beyond that and offer one in the fall at the start of the hunting season. All animals 4 months and older are required to be current with their rabies vaccinations — vaccinations are typically good for one or three years. Vaccinations are required because the pets are typically the barrier between people and the rabid animals. Failure to have pets currently vaccinated places your animals in jeopardy — outdated vaccinations are treated the same as unvaccinated n this state.

Animals that are not currently vaccinated and come in contact with a rabid animal are either euthanized or quarantined at an animal hospital for six months at the owner’s expense. In the case of a dog biting a human or another animal, the unvaccinated animal is taken to the animal shelter or animal hospital for 10 days of quarantine at which time it can be returned to the owner — if it has not been declared vicious — who then pays a fee for lodging and an additional fee for not adhering to the state vaccination requirement. If it is vaccinated, it could stay on the owner’s property if it can be acceptably quarantined for 10 days. Obviously, there are marked differences and costs associated with meeting the state requirement and not meeting it — for less than $10 it is a good investment.

Changing gears slightly, the first week in April is Public Health Month. Since I have not noted other awareness weeks/months in the past, such asnursing, social work, dental, heart, etc., I will not dwell on this event. There are many organizations involved in public health when you think of water and food quality, screenings, vaccinations, wellness, disease prevention and investigation, education, etc. as well as those who support specific causes (heart, lung, cancer, babies, etc.). There have been many successes and some failures. This recent flu season is a good example. The flu vaccination was almost a perfect match for the flu strains that were prevalent but for some reason its efficacy did not seem to match past years. Still many people received some protection which was better than none.

So happy Public Health Week to us.

Bill Smith is the director of the Robeson County Health Department.