Public sector vets concerned about rabies threat to western Europe

The prospect of rabies re-entering western Europe is a distinct possibility, according to a poll of public sector vets. Of the 44 vets who participated in a poll at last week’s Official Veterinarian conference in Swindon, some 56 per cent thought there was either a high (42 per cent), or very high (14 per cent) chance of rabies re-entering the region. A further 27 per cent classed the threat as medium, 15 per cent as low and only 2 per cent thought the risk was negligible. Currently western Europe is considered a ‘no risk area’ for rabies by Public Health England. Several eastern European countries, however, are deemed high rabies animal risk, including Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and the Russian Federation. Western Europe has suffered from bouts of rabies in the past, as outlined in the World Organisation for Animal Health’s Historical Perspective of Rabies in Europe and...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Tags: News section Source Type: research