Currently in microbiology we are studying virology. Yesterday, we covered rabies, and naturally, what comes to mind? Cujo... and Old Yeller. As our teacher was going through her slides, she shared some interesting statistics with us. I thought I would share them with anyone who wants to read. Also, credit goes to our micro teacher Donna Sullivan.
There was a total of 48 cases of human rabies in the United States between 1990 and 2007. Of those 48, only TWO were contracted from dogs/coyotes here in the U.S. That's right... two... in all those years. The rest were mostly from bats or from dog bites while outside the U.S. Weird, right? I made sure to tell my friend Amanda, who is in vet school, that her very expensive rabies vaccine might have been in vain (except for the fact that vet school requires it). I might have found that more interesting than most, but there ya have it! No need in being worried about getting rabies.
I will say.. if I see a dog like this, I'll still probably run like the wind:
