Protect against Rabies

September 28 is World Rabies Day, a global health observance that seeks to raise awareness about rabies and enhance prevention and control efforts. First co-sponsored by CDC and the Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) in 2007, World Rabies Day has been celebrated in countries throughout the world, including the U.S.

World Rabies Day is an excellent time to take steps that can help prevent and control rabies, such as vaccinating pets including dogs and cats and providing education on how to avoid the animals that typically transmit rabies: raccoons, bats, skunks, and foxes.

Show your pets how much you love them by honoring September 28th and getting them vaccinated.

The Foothills Animal Shelter offers rabies vaccinations for your dog or cat for only $15. Vaccines can be given during an appointment, or the shelter offers walk-in hours on Tuesdays and Fridays from 3 to 4pm. Please visit their website or call 303-278-7575 for more information.

Steps to Prevent Rabies: 

• Residents are urged not to handle wild animals and to beware of any bats or skunks seen during day light hours. Bats that are active during the day (seen in places where bats are not usually seen, i.e. indoors, on the lawn) or any bat that is unable to fly should be considered possibly rabid and reported to the appropriate animal control agency. 
• Pet owners should be sure their pets have current immunizations for rabies and keep their pets from roaming free. Vaccination is essential to protecting pets and preventing further spread of the disease. 
• Wash any wound from an animal thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention immediately. 
• Have all dead, sick, or captured bats/skunks tested for rabies if exposure to people or pets is suspected. 
• Keep wild animals from entering homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas where they might contact people and pets. Seal up holes that might allow bats into your living quarters. Any openings larger than a quarter-inch by a half-inch should be caulked. Use window screens, chimney caps, and draft-guards beneath doors to attics, fill electrical and plumbing holes with stainless steel wool or caulking, and ensure that all doors to the outside close tightly. 

Resources:

For more information or to report a suspicious animal, please contact your local Animal Control agency or Jefferson County Animal Control at 303-271-5070

For more information on rabies and prevention tips please visit our Animal-Borne Disease Rabies page, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rabies page, or call the JCPH Animal-Borne Disease Program at at 303-271-5700.

Protect Your Pets from Rabies

One of the best ways to show your pets how much you love them is to make sure they are protected from rabies. Rabies is an infectious viral disease that affects the nervous system in animals and humans. If you do not vaccinate your pets, you are putting your entire family at risk. It is also important to keep your pets on leashes when they are out in the community. Livestock may also be exposed to rabies and owners should be vigilant in monitoring health issues in their animals, and discuss any animal health concerns with their local veterinarian.

Rabies in wild animals is on the rise, especially in bats and skunks in the state of Colorado. As of April 17, 2015, Colorado State University and CDPHE laboratories have confirmed rabies in 24 animals (two bats, 20 skunks, one raccoon and one cat) in Colorado. Of these, nine (38%) rabid animals were known or strongly suspected of exposing 20 domestic animals and 20 humans.

Wild animals can infect your pets if they are not protected. The Foothills Animal Shelter provides low cost vaccinations as well as links to other vaccination clinics throughout the county. For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Kids Page on Rabies or read our JCPH Rabies brochure.

Residents and visitors are advised to avoid all stray or wild animals, keep pets (dogs, cats, ferrets, livestock) vaccinated against rabies and, don’t allow pets to roam free. Everyone is advised not to handle wild animals. If bitten or scratched by a pet or wild animal, immediately wash any wounds with soap and water and contact your family doctor.

For additional information on rabies, contact Jefferson County Public Health Zoonosis Program at 303-232-6301.

In addition to rabies vaccinations for pets and livestock, here are some additional precautions to prevent possible exposure to rabies:

• Do not feed, touch, or handle wild animals.
• If you find a bat inside your home, do not let it out or discard of it. Call animal control so that the animal can be tested. Otherwise, exposure is assumed and quarantine and/or prophylaxis will be required.
• If you must remove a dead animal on your property, wear rubber gloves or lift the carcass with a shovel or other tool, and double-bag it for the trash. Do not directly touch the animal with bare hands.
• Call your local animal control office to remove stray animals from your neighborhood.
• Teach children to leave wildlife alone.
• Do not leave pet food or livestock feed in areas accessible to wildlife.
• Maintain control of your pets by keeping cats indoors and keeping dogs under direct supervision.
• Spay or neuter your pets to reduce the number of unwanted or stray animals in your community.
• Rabies vaccination should be considered for horses and other equines, breeding livestock, dairy cattle or other livestock.
• Call the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife at (303) 297-1192 if you have problems with wild animals.

If you are concerned that you or one of your animals might have been exposed to rabies, seek medical or veterinary attention immediately.

Resources: 

• Wildlife Rabies and You (brochure) 
• For more information or to report a suspicious animal, please contact your local animal control agency or Jefferson County Animal Control: 303-271-5070
• For more information about rabies contact Environmental Health Services Animal Borne Disease Program at 303-232-6301 or visit www.jeffco.us/health.
• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Rabies Data: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/rabies-data