All,
OK, we finally got some figures in today on rabies. These were supplied
by CDC in Atlanta and were taken from "Rabies Surveillance in the United
States During 1992" ; J.W. Krebs, MS; T.W. Strine, BA; J.E. Childs, ScD
published in JAVMA, Vol. 203, No. 12, December 15,1993; Special Report
1721.
Year: 1992 Confirmed Rabies Cases
Cat 290
Dog 182
Cattle 184
Horses/Mules 49
Sheep/Goats 23
Ferrets 2 (1 in S.C.; 1 in VA)
Swine 1
Llama 1
[end of article]
Now, taking the estimated number of dogs (50 million) and the estimated
number of domestic ferrets (10 million) and normalizing; we would have
statistics showing that the dog is over 18 times more likely to develop
rabies than is the domestic ferret.
Going back in the past 5 years of available data (1988 - 1992) from
similar data we find:
year Dog Cat Livestock Ferret
1992 182 290 258 2
1991 155 189 308 0
1990 148 176 229 0
1989 160 212 211 0
1988 128 192 230 0
Over the period reported in by the American Ferret Association Report
(where the above data came from) which covers 1980 to 1992, we find the
following total cases of rabies:
Dog Cat Livestock Ferret
1996 2537 3935 12
Since 1950 to present (1994), CDC reports a total of 16 confirmed cases
of rabies in ferrets (private conversation with CDC). Using that same
ratio of 5:1 (dogs:ferrets); the dog is shown to be over 33 times more
likely to have contracted rabies. The 5:1 ratio is very conservative
since the number of ferrets in recent years has grown rapidly. CDFA
estimated in their 1990 report that there were 8 million ferrets compared
with 46 million dogs ( 5.7 :1 ). 1988 estimates published in a reply to a
previous article by Dr. Hoffman in "FDA Veterinarian"; September/ October
1991, were 50 million dogs and 3 million ferrets ( 16:1 ).
In this same article, Dr Hoffman states that the normalized bite
rate (bites per year per animal) showed that a dog was over 200 times
more likely to bite than a ferret (8.8 bites per year per 10,000 dogs vs
0.04 bites per year per 10,000 ferrets.)
The "Compendium of Animal Rabies Control, 1994" published by the National
Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc. now lists two (2)
approved rabies vaccines for ferrets: IMRAB-3 by Rhone Merieux, Inc.; and
PRORAB 1 by Intervet, Inc. An approved rabies vaccine was not available
for ferrets until 1990.
Hope this helps those of you needing data.
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 0786]
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