The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending a change to how dogs are brought into the US for the first time in almost 70 years.
The proposed modifications provide a new set of standards for those wishing to import dogs from nations with a high risk for rabies, revisiting regulations last updated in 1956.
US Takes Action To Prevent Dog Rabies
Dog rabies was reportedly eradicated in the US in 2007, but the virus is still widespread in more than 100 other nations, according to the CDC.
According to CDC spokesperson David Daigle, “the proposed revisions aim to protect the public’s health by avoiding the reintroduction of dog rabies into the United States.
The US government would be better able to check that imported dogs had complied with US entrance regulations thanks to these improvements, which would create an importation system intended to lessen fraud.
According to the CDC, the virus kills roughly 59,000 people worldwide every year, the majority of whom are youngsters who have been bitten by dogs, despite the fact that rabies in humans is uncommon in the United States.
99% of rabies-related deaths in people worldwide are brought on by contact with infected dogs.
The virus enters the body through the nerves and goes to the brain, where it multiplies and produces inflammation, generally by the bite of an infected animal.
The disease is typically already lethal when it reaches the brain and symptoms start to show.
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CDC Proposes New Dog Guidelines
The CDC’s proposed regulation adds further security measures to stop rabies from entering the country.
For instance, canines from “low-risk” or rabies-free nations would be permitted entry with documented proof that the dog has resided in the low-risk environment for the previous six months.
Pet owners must transport their dogs to an airport with a CDC quarantine station if they were immunized in the US and are traveling back from a country with a high rabies incidence.
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