Preventative medicine can be described as a practice of medicine that focuses on defined populations as well as the individual. The goal is protecting, promoting, and maintaining health and well-being while preventing disease, disability, and death. Veterinary preventative medicine has the same definition with the purpose of preventing and controlling globally important diseases of food animals and humans.
The overall mission of VPM is the discovery and dissemination of knowledge to prevent, control, or eradicate disease; to promote sustainable agricultural productivity; and to enhance the health of animal and human populations.
One of the most important tiers in veterinary preventative medicine is vaccinations. Disease causing organisms are fought off with the help of vaccines that are administered to animals. There are local and state laws that enforce the mandatory vaccines for each species of animal. One of the most common and heavily enforced vaccines is for Rabies. Rabies is an infectious viral disease that is spread through the infected saliva of an infected animal. This disease is almost always fatal after the onset of clinical signs.
- 99% of human Rabies cases result from domestic canine bites.
- More than 95% of human deaths occur from Rabies in Asia and Africa, although the disease is present on all continents except Antarctica.
- 40% of people that are bitten and infected with Rabies are under 15 years of age.
The symptoms of Rabies include but are not limited to:
- fever
- pain around the wound site
- inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
- hyperactivity
- excited behavior
- hydrophobia
- aerophobia
- death by cariorespitory arrest
- muscle paralysis
- coma
Because the Rabies vaccine is so important and globally recognized, the immunization requirements are as follows:
Dogs, cats, and ferrets: Vaccinated no sooner than 3 months of age and a booster in the following year.
Livestock: Animals that have frequent contact with humans (i.e., petting zoos, fairs, public exhibition) should be vaccinated.
Confined animals: Wild animals have not been authorized to receive a vaccine against the Rabies disease and are advised not to be kept as pets. Because zoo animals and wild animals that are maintained in exhibits are not vaccinated against rabies, the zookeepers and employees that work at zoological parks should be vaccinated against the disease. Bats and carnivores should be housed in a way that prevents their direct contact with the public.
"What Is Preventive Medicine? - American College of Preventive Medicine." What Is Preventive Medicine? - American College of Preventive Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
"Veterinary Preventive Medicine." Veterinary Preventive Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
"Rabies." World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
"Rabies Vaccination." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
"Information Resources." World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
"Human Rabies." TabletsManual.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
Preventive Veterinary Medicine." N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
By Eric
ReplyDeleteThis post seems very informative. It explains what Prevention medicine is, the goal of VPM, and gives lots of information about Rabies. Most of the facts that were said about Rabies I had never heard before, so this was very interesting and informative to me. I also thought it was helpful to see a map that show all the places that had a high risk of rabies. I think you should explain what hydrophobia and aerophobia are because not everyone may know what these words mean. Also, just change the title to Veterinary Preventative Medicine: Rabies, because at first I thought you were just going to talk about prevention as a whole, but the main focus was more on Rabies. Overall, great post.
Thanks for your feedback! I agree that the main focus is rabies but it overall touches on the entire spectrum.
Delete