Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffYou can reduce your risk of coming in contact with rabid animals. Here's how:
- Vaccinate your pets. Cats, dogs and ferrets can be vaccinated against rabies. Ask your veterinarian how often your pets should be vaccinated.
- Keep your pets confined. Keep your pets inside and supervise them when outside. This will help keep your pets from coming in contact with wild animals.
- Protect small pets from predators. Keep rabbits and other small pets, such as guinea pigs, inside or in protected cages so that they are safe from wild animals. These small pets can't be vaccinated against rabies.
- Report stray animals to local authorities. Call your local animal control officials or other local law enforcement to report stray dogs and cats.
- Don't approach wild animals. Wild animals with rabies may seem unafraid of people. It's not normal for a wild animal to be friendly with people, so stay away of any animal that seems unafraid.
- Keep bats out of your home. Seal any cracks and gaps where bats can enter your home. If you know you have bats in your home, work with a local expert to find ways to keep bats out.
- Consider the rabies vaccine if you're traveling. If you're traveling to a country where rabies is common and you'll be there for a long period of time, ask your doctor whether you should receive the rabies vaccine.
References
- Di Quinzio M, et al. Rabies risk among travelers. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2008;178:567.
- DeMaria A. Patient information: Rabies. http://www.uptodate.com. Accessed Dec. 17, 2008.
- Manning SE, et al. Human rabies prevention - United States, 2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2008;57:1.
- General questions & answers about rabies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http%3A//www.cdc.gov/rabies/qanda/general.html. Accessed Dec. 17, 2008.
- About rabies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http%3A//www.cdc.gov/rabies/about.html. Accessed Dec. 22, 2008.
- What to do if you have a potential rabies exposure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http%3A//www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/types.html. Accessed Dec. 31, 2008.
