The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services Office of Public Health will be conducting its annual Low-Cost Rabies Immunization Clinics for the 27th consecutive year. The clinic this year will be held on Saturday May 19, 2018 to ensure rabies vaccine is offered to pets during the animal bite season. As in previous years, licensed rabies vaccine is administered to cats, dogs, and ferrets at a reduced cost.
The event will take place at the Abington Recycling Center at 2201 Florey Lane off of Easton Road on May 19, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
In 2017, the Office of Public Health’s Low Cost Rabies Clinic provided vaccines to 303 pets at two sites in Montgomery County. In Abington, there were 175 vaccines and in Norristown, a total of 128.
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system. It can affect all mammals, including humans. It is is a fatal disease once symptoms appear.
Rabies is spread most often through the bite of a rabid animal. It can also be spread through a scratch from a rabid animal that breaks in the skin or through exposure of an open wound or mucous membrane (eye, nose, or mouth) to saliva from a rabid animal. In Montgomery County, rabies has been found in raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes, groundhogs, beavers, steer, cats and dogs.
If an animal bites you, immediately wash the wound with plenty of soap and warm water, and then promptly seek medical care. If the circumstances of the exposure warrant, human rabies vaccine may be prescribed. The vaccine is a series of four shots given in the arm or thigh for small children on days 0, 3, 7, and 14 after presentation to the health care provider. Rabies immune globulin is also given along with the vaccine on day zero. Rabies vaccine is highly effective in preventing the disease after an exposure, if given before any symptoms develop.
Vaccinating domestic animals is an important way to prevent rabies transmission from wildlife animal reservoirs to the human population. The Pennsylvania State Law requires that all cats and dogs of three months of age and older must be vaccinated.
For more information about the Office of Public Health’s Rabies Control Program, please contact the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at (610) 278-5117.