Complacency risks reversing progress in US rabies control amid rising vaccine hesitancy

Although rabies remains rare among vaccinated pets in the US, increasing vaccine hesitancy threatens to undermine decades of progress in disease control, with experts warning of potential resurgence.

Rabies remains rare in vaccinated pets in the United States, but public-health agencies warn that complacency could erode one of the country’s most effective disease controls.

The disease is almost always fatal once symptoms begin, and it spreads through bites or scratches from infected mammals. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says bats, skunks, raccoons and foxes are the wildlife species most often found with rabies in the US, while about 100,000 people receive post-exposure prophylaxis each year after a possible exposure.

That matters because vaccination has transformed the risk profile. The CDC says mass pet-immunisation programmes in the 1950s sharply reduced rabies in dogs, which once accounted for most human cases in America. Today, human deaths in the US are typically limited to one to three a year.

Yet veterinary groups are seeing signs of renewed doubt about routine shots. The New York Times recently reported that vaccine hesitancy is increasingly affecting pet care, with some owners questioning even rabies immunisation. California law requires dogs over four months old to be vaccinated, while local rules in places such as Marin can extend requirements to cats. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends rabies vaccination for all cats, including those kept indoors.