title: Rabies.
abstract: The practicing veterinarian has a key role to play in rabies control in the maintenance of protection in the companion animal populations, in the education of the pet-owning community on rabies, and in the decision-making process that accompanies human exposure to potentially rabid animals. This role encompasses far more than the routine maintenance of health and well-being in pet animal populations. Although it is important to remain diligent in the immunization of domestic pets against rabies to provide a barrier between wildlife, the main reservoir of infection, and man, it is also important to be aware of the current trends in wildlife rabies within a region. Research is currently underway to investigate methods of immunizing wildlife populations, but the effective and widespread control of rabies in these species is still a long way off; in the meantime, there will be an increasing demand for practicing veterinarians to take the lead in the control of this most fearful zoonotic disease.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission; D011819:Rabies Vaccines; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D011819:Rabies Vaccines