Rabies:

Even as you keep your horse’s vaccinations up to date, it’s wise to remember the threat posed by this dread disease.

Even as you keep your horse’s vaccinations up to date, it’s wise to remember the threat posed by this dread disease.

Today, the threat of rabies to American horses may seem remote. Vaccination against the disease is extremely effective and affordable. And rabies is rare in the United States: Only 25 cases were reported among horses and mules in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You need not lie awake at night worrying about rabies.

But you don’t want to become complacent, either. Usually transmitted through the bite of an infected animal, rabies is invariably fatal---the virus ravages a horse’s nervous system and there is no cure. In fact, rabies has the highest mortality rate of any infectious disease---functionally 100 percent since euthanasia is the only option once signs of illness appear. And reservoirs of rabies virus continue to exist in the wild, causing periodic outbreaks of the disease that pose a risk to both wild and domesticated animals.

All of which means that even as you vaccinate your horse against rabies, it’s wise to remember the threat the disease poses and remain vigilant.