Health and diet

The End of September Belongs to the International Fight against Rabies

A large part of the world has already tackled rabies. However, there are some countries, mainly the developing ones, where this virus is still a current problem. Even nowadays, tens of thousands of people die of rabies every year. Therefore, pet lovers celebrate the World Rabies Day on 28 September.  

Rabies are a viral disease of warm-blooded animals; therefore, it also concerns us, humans. It attacks the nervous system and often ends in death. It is transmitted through infected saliva. Most often, it happens because of biting but it can also be transmitted by scratching. The symptoms might show up within several days up to several months. They include the changes in behaviour, aggressiveness and uncontrollable spasms. It always ends in death.

In the Czech Republic, it is considered to be eradicated for 17 years already. However, there is still a risk of its recurrence and the monitoring of this disease is still going on. As part of it, wild animals such as foxes in which the infection is most common are tested. The last detected case of rabies in the Czech Republic comes from 2002 and in this case, it also affected a fox. Among pets, the last case concerned a cat a year before that. We were officially and internationally declared a rabies-free country in 2004. 

However, rabies was still common and spread across the whole territory of the Czech Republic in 1980s. It was possible to eradicate it mainly because of oral vaccination of foxes which was intensive between 1989 and 2009. On the World Rabies Day, we shouldn’t forget to mention the name of a Czech scientist, Oldřich Matouch, who, as the only Czech so far, was awarded a prestigious prize by OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) for his services to the veterinary community for the above-mentioned vaccination programme. 

Even though this dangerous, fatal disease no longer occurs in the Czech Republic, an obligation to vaccinate not only dogs but also foxes and badgers kept in captivity is still in place. Also, an animal that hurt a person needs to be taken to the vet on the 1st day after the incident and on the 5th day as well. Vets check thousands of animals every year because of that. 

Besides the developing countries, rabies is also a current threat in some European countries within the EU. It mainly concerns the countries with large numbers of stray dogs. Due to this reason, the State Veterinary Administration also warns against bringing home homeless dogs of an unknown origin from abroad. It could be easily spread by this again. 

The European Commission plans to eradicate rabies across the whole EU until 2030. We can only hope that this plan will work out which is in our interest as well as it the interest of others and it will never come back.

 

Related articles

Care and raising

First heat

If you’ve got a little female puppy at home, first heat might catch you off guard, so it’s not a bad idea to make some preparations ahead.

Interesting information

Dogs at work

Domestic dog is the oldest domesticated animal and it has provided accompaniment to humans for 14 thousand years at the minimum. During this time, it underwent numerous changes and a long development. All the dog breeds of today are a result of human...

Interesting information

Dogs and horses

I am not much of a horse person, but from time to time, I like to go horse riding. Usually, I leave my fuzzy friends at home. The presence of horses upsets them. When I was getting my dog fellows, I didn’t think about the fact that not all the breeds...

Interesting information

Why do dogs dig?

If you take pride in your nicely groomed garden and your dog belongs to the category of the so-called diggers, it probably doesn’t make you very happy. However, frantic digging in earth doesn’t please not even us, who wink at a few holes in the grass....

Care and raising

How to train calling with a whistle?

Calling a dog is without any doubt one of the most important commands that the dog should reliably master at any situation. Most often, we call the dog using the command “come”, but we can also emphasise it with a whistle. It pays off mainly in...

Interesting information

Five myths about dogs

I have always thought, that I know my four-legged fellows to their last hair, but there’s always something that manages to surprise me and there’s always a lot to learn from them. Some of the myths are so deep-rooted, that one doesn’t even fall upon...

Výchova a péče

How do the dogs and cats hear?

Simply put: much better, than us, humans. And cats even hear much better than dogs. But from experience, I can say, that it also depends on what and whom they want to listen to. How is it with dogs?

Care and raising

How to unteach your dog to beg?

Does your dog beg for food at the table? Do they beg even from strangers when you’re at a restaurant? Then you should know, that you are one-hundredth percent guilty of this yourself. If a dog learns to beg for human food, it is an educational mistake....

Care and raising

Dog Puzzles

When the weather is lovely rather for ducks than dogs for a longer period of time and long walks don’t come into question, my fluffy friends are getting get bored at home and start with their shenanigans. I always try to think of a home activity to...