Rewarding decades of work by state and local public health authorities, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has officially declared the U.S. free from the type of rabies carried by dogs.

"The elimination of canine rabies in the United States represents one of the major public health success stories in the last 50 years," stated Dr. Charles Rupprecht, Chief of the CDC Rabies Program in a press release. "However, there is still much work to be done to prevent and control rabies globally."

Vaccination Still a Must
While years of vaccination and licensing programs, along with aggressive stray dog control have finally paid off, Dr. Rupprecht was quick to warn that Americans must continue to vaccinate their pets against rabies. "Rabies is ever-present in wildlife and can be transmitted to dogs or other pets. We need to stay vigilant," he said. Rupprecht cited adoption of dogs from other countries with canine-rabies as an example of the fragile nature of the current canine-rabies-free status of the United States.

While rabies in humans is preventable, it still accounts for at least 55,000 deaths annually around the world – almost one death every 10 minutes, according to the CDC.

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