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It kills at least 50,000 people worldwide each year, mostly children. Dogs are the main culprits. But in the United States, where pet vaccination and stray-dog control programs are strong, rabies has a different face: Raccoons and skunks are by far the top four-legged viral hosts.
Scientists are standing up to these rabid mammals. Since the early 1990s more than a hundred million doses of oral vaccine have been spread in problem areas to create buffer zones. Distribution continues. At the same time, another disease host is showing teeth. Widespread and mobile, bats are directly implicated in 20 of the 25 U.S. human rabies deaths since 1997. (Bat bites can go unnoticed, especially if the victim is asleep.) So how do you vaccinate on the wing? Ideas range from genetically modified insect prey to a parasite for drug delivery, says rabies expert Charles Rupprecht of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, up to 40,000 U.S. bite victims yearly rely on a six-shot regimen in case of infection. Doctors who administer the drugs quickly haven’t lost a patient yet.
—Jennifer S. Holland
Photos: Dietmar Nill, Foto Natura/Minden Pictures; NGM Maps. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Comments
May 7, 2009 9AM #
I think it is worth mentioning that less than half of 1% of North American bats test positive for rabies in scientifc surveys. Bats seem to be unfairly targeted as rabies carriers over other species which are much better carriers because bats are generally misunderstood and irrationally feared, therefore making them an easy scapegoat. While it is certainly possible to contract rabies from a bat bite, this only occurs when a person actually approaches and touches a sick bat. Bats do not exhibit the aggressive symptoms of rabies that other mammals experience, and therefore do not attack. Chances of coming in contact with a rabid bat are very rare--it's more likely that you would die from getting struck by lightning, a plane crash, falling down a flight of stairs, or being killed by your spouse.
May 7, 2009 9AM #
Sorry--I forgot to mention that with White-Nose syndrome decimating our bat populations, we should be doing more than ever to encourage understanding and conservation of bats in North America rather than worrying about rabies in bats--something that is really not a serious threat. The possibility of losing our bat populations to White-Nose syndomre is of FAR more concern to our ecosystems, economic stability, and human health than bat-born rabies could ever be. Our bats need us more than ever now, so we should avoid spreading information that serves to furthur people's fear and misunderstanding of them. If you want more information about bats, white-nose syndrome, rabies, and much more, visit http://www.batcon.org/
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