The American Center for Disease Control issues a severe warning to Israel: “high risk”

The American Center for Disease Control (CDC), which is considered one of the leaders in the world for setting the standard for disease control, declared that Israel is a country at high risk for rabies.

The Ministry of Agriculture responded to this and said that “Due to the CDC’s lack of distinction between the jurisdictions of the Israeli and Palestinian Ministries of Agriculture, the lack of supervision, control, prevention and treatment of dogs in the territory where Israeli law does not apply, Israel has been defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as a high risk area for rabies , which requires strict control measures on the importation of dogs from it, following the rabies situation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and the inspection mechanisms and control over the prevention of its spread.”

The ministry stated that “the inclusion is a consequence, as mentioned, due to the organization’s lack of separation between the jurisdictions of the Israeli and Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture”.

The Ministry of Agriculture added that “there is no unusual outbreak in dogs within Israel’s jurisdiction. The Ministry is alert to this risk, continues to closely monitor and follow up on the disease and even takes additional precautions to prevent its outbreak.”

Since the beginning of the year there have been 52 cases of rabies in animals in Israel, and this year, for the first time since 2002, a person died from rabies.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that “Recently, the Ministry published a support procedure for a special budget of eight million shekels for the treatment of stray dogs by authorities in the areas near the border fence. The treatment includes extensive aspects; among them: collecting dogs, rehabilitating them, neutering them and handing them over for adoption to responsible owners, removing garbage sources and improving sanitation in the authorities , informational activity on responsible ownership and public sanitation, partly due to the fear of animals entering infected with rabies from the territories of the Palestinian Authority or the neighboring countries, and in order to ensure the health of the public along with the health and well-being of the animals.”

Rabies is terminal and incurable. From the moment the first clinical signs appear in humans or animals, there is no possibility of saving the patient.

Rabies is caused by a virus that is transmitted between mammals, usually through a bite or the contact of blood saliva. The virus migrates at a rate of about a centimeter per day from the bite site along the nerves, to the brain and causes brain cell destruction and death. The typical signs of rabies are changes in behavior, paralysis and finally death, when between two weeks and six months can pass from the moment of infection until the patient dies. In case of fear of infection, people are given prophylactic treatment that protects against the further development of the disease. Rabies is a fatal disease, immediate vaccination of a person bitten upon exposure to an animal infected with the disease is necessary to save lives.

The Ministry of Agriculture mentioned that the way to prevent rabies and stop its spread is by making sure to vaccinate domestic animals. The Ministry of Agriculture urges the public to vaccinate the dogs they own, and to walk the dog on a leash held by a person who has control over the dog. It should be noted that since April 2024, vaccination is mandatory every two years for dogs that have been vaccinated with two first vaccinations against rabies. A dog that has never been vaccinated or does not have documentation of its vaccination according to the law, is required to be vaccinated immediately and after one to three months from the administration of the first vaccination for a booster vaccination.