Animal Rabies

Rabies is a viral disease that is present in over 150 countries worldwide. The virus is transmitted in saliva and most commonly both animals and humans become infected through bites from an infected animal. It is also possible, but rare, that direct contact with an open wound or abrasion with saliva from an infected animal could result in infection. Animals can carry rabies without symptoms for months or years, but once clinical signs appear almost 100% of cases are fatal. There is a vaccine for dogs and other animals which can prevent rabies. There have been no indigenous cases of rabies in Ireland since 1903. The disease is notifiable which means that anyone who suspects that an animal has signs of the disease must report it to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine without delay.

Rabies primarily affects mammals. This includes humans and most species of animals but does not include birds, snakes and fish. Rabies is spread by animals that bite and the most common species associated with spreading the disease include dogs, cats, foxes, bats, raccoons, ferrets, and other small carnivores.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease which means that people can get rabies from infected animals. Each year more than 59,000 people die from the disease mainly in Africa and Asia. Most of these deaths are in children under the age of 15 and are caused by bites from rabies-infected dogs. People travelling to or working in countries affected by rabies should take precautions and avoid direct contact with dogs, cats, small mammals, and bats. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has important detailed information on rabies prevention and treatment in people.

Rabies has been eradicated from Western Europe in recent years although there are still a small number of isolated cases reported, most commonly in dogs and cats which are usually related to imported infected animals or in bats.

However, rabies is still endemic in some European Union Member States including Poland and Romania. These countries have a rabies eradication programme in place which involves the twice-yearly aerial distribution of high quality vaccine baits to foxes and racoon dogs as well as systems for rabies surveillance, monitoring of bait distribution and monitoring fox population immunity. Other European countries affected by Rabies include for example Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey. The disease can also be found in the Americas, Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The World Health Organisation produced a

map of the worldwide distribution of canine and wildlife-medicated rabies

The most likely way rabies would be introduced into Ireland is through an animal which already has the disease, entering Ireland from abroad without meeting all legal border controls. It is extremely important that anyone who plans to bring a pet animal into Ireland complies with the legal requirements for Pet Travel that are in place to prevent rabies occurring here.

Clinical signs of rabies can take several weeks or months after infection to develop and vary greatly from one animal to another. Ireland is currently free from rabies so it’s extremely unlikely unless your pet has moved to Ireland or travelled abroad and met an infected animal.

The first signs of rabies may be nonspecific and include:

• Sudden changes in behaviour: animals may become overly friendly and attention seeking, or they may become fearful and aggressive, biting at anything

• Noise and light hypersensitivity

• The sound of an animal’s bark or meow may alter

Once clinical signs do appear, they tend to become severe very quickly and include:

• Reluctance to eat and drink

• Increased aggression

• Dilated pupils and/or slow eye reflexes, a staring expression

• Muscle weakness, a lack of co-ordination when walking

• Droopy face, eyelids and/or excessive drooling or frothing at the mouth

• Difficulty swallowing, respiratory failure

• Seizures, paralysis, coma, and death

If your pet has a sudden change of behaviour or any of the symptoms above, especially if they have been abroad, do not delay in taking action.

Contact your local Item was unpublished or removed (during office hours). Outside of office hours, you can ring the National Disease Emergency Hotline on 01 492 8026 (which is operational 365 days of the year) to report a suspect case.

To keep Ireland free from rabies, there are movement rules for bringing pets into Ireland from other EU Member States and there are also import controls on animals entering Ireland from non-EU countries. These import controls differ according to the species of animal and the country of origin. Visit the Pet Travel page of the gov.ie website for more information on these rules.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is involved in monitoring the presence of the disease in animals worldwide. The OIE is co-ordinating with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Animal Organisation (FAO) in a One Health approach to eliminate human deaths from dog-mediated rabies worldwide by 2030. These organisations formed the United against Rabies forum which is engaged in many activities to control the disease including hosting the World Rabies Day on 28th September each year to raise awareness of the importance of the disease.

For information on bringing your pet into Ireland/Ukraine crisis visit Item was unpublished or removed