Rabies and Feral Cats

Much of the U.S. is currently experiencing a wildlife rabies epidemic. Wildlife managers, animal control agencies and the animal protection community face important decisions on how best to control this disease. Feral cats are all too often caught in the middle of misguided efforts to protect human health by exterminating wild, feral, and stray animals. These efforts are not only cruel, but ineffective, costly, and difficult to implement.

Alley Cat Allies promotes compassionate non-lethal solutions to problems resulting from human/wildlife interactions. Scientific evidence from around the world confirms the long term viability of non-lethal population and disease control through sterilization, birth control, and oral vaccination of wildlife. These methods represent an effective and humane approach to the rabies epidemic.

Rabies and Humans

Rabies is an acute viral infection of the central nervous system. Of all the zoonotic diseases,(1) it is one of the most feared and misunderstood even though its threat to humans in the U.S. is very small. Left untreated, rabies is deadly, producing excruciatingly painful symptoms and usually fatal. Media accounts also tend to sensationalize and reinforce popular misconceptions. Much unnecessary anxiety and fear could be relieved by understanding that rabies in the U.S. is primarily a disease of wildlife which can be controlled, and its threat to humans and companion animals minimized.
Most cases are transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. All animal bites should be immediately flushed and cleansed with soap and water, then given prompt medical attention. Rabies is treatable when caught early, before symptoms appear. Exposure risk can be further minimized by following a few simple precautions.

Rabies has been a part of wildlife ecology since prehistoric times and is present throughout the world with the exception of Antarctica, Australia, and islands such as Britain and Hawaii where strict quarantine measures are enforced. Mostly a disease of carnivores, the primary carriers in the U.S. are raccoons, foxes, skunks, coyotes, and bats. Infection is rare in rodent populations. While dogs and cats are susceptible, cattle and horses represent the most frequently infected domestic animals.(2)
Within wildlife populations the disease usually follows a self-limiting pattern. The outbreak of an epizootic (epidemic) is characterized by a peak which stabilizes and then declines over an approximately five year cycle. Increased population immunity follows infection, thus limiting further outbreaks.
During the disease's progression infected animals exhibit behavioral changes such as restlessness, excitability, and severe aggression, often biting any approaching animal or human. Wildlife seen during the day in unlikely locations, seemingly unafraid of humans, or displaying strange behavior should be suspected of being rabid. Do not attempt to approach or handle these animals. Carefully back away and immediately report the incident to local animal control authorities.
In 1992, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 8,000 cases of rabies in animals, an increase of 64% over 1990. Five regional epizootics have been identified in California, north and south central, mid- Atlantic, and southeastern states. New York reported the highest number of cases, while Oregon and Connecticut each had increases of 500%. In 1991, there were 155 reported cases in dogs and 189 in cats. Despite the large increase in animal cases, only three human deaths could be attributed to rabies.(3)
Current responses to the disease in the U.S. have focused on the role of hunters and trappers trying to reduce those vector species (foxes, skunks, raccoons) most responsible for spreading the disease. This effort has proven totally ineffective, hastening the spread of the disease by removing healthy animals and thus opening territorial ``vacuums.'' The mid-Atlantic epidemic was actually caused by hunters bringing infected raccoons into the region from Florida.(4)

In western Europe a very successful oral vaccine, developed in the U.S., has proven an effective, economical, and humane rabies control. Wildlife vaccination via food baits has blocked the spread of the disease and prevented small outbreaks from becoming major epidemics by maintaining healthy populations of key vector species as an ``immune barrier.'' Newly developed vaccines placed in baits insure very high immunization rates and have further increased effectiveness. Laboratory and field tests on over 40 species of animals have demonstrated the vaccines' safety.

While wildlife rabies is a serious problem, it can be controlled and its threat to human health minimized. Local, state and Federal agencies responsible for wildlife management and public health have been reluctant to recognize or adopt non-lethal disease control alternatives. This inaction has resulted in the spread of rabies, the deaths of countless animals, and a needless risk to human health.
The Wistar Institute, one of the nation's premier rabies research facilities, has conducted successful American field trials on the oral V-RG vaccine. Vaccine laced baits have reduced the number of animals susceptible to rabies and thereby the risk to the general public. By targeting primary vector species (raccoons and skunks), such programs can be crucial in controlling the current rabies epidemic. Once the vaccine is licensed for use in the U.S., wildlife management, animal control, and public health authorities must be encouraged to begin widespread inoculation programs similar to those which have been successful in Europe.

Although not natural vectors of rabies, feral cats can become exposed to the virus by attacks from infected wildlife. Since ferals often live in close proximity to both humans and wildlife, animal control authorities may try to eliminate whole colonies in an ill-conceived effort to control the disease and protect human health. These efforts are bound to fail, as some cats always escape and begin their breeding process again. Even if whole colonies are destroyed, other cats soon move in to fill the vacated territory.(5)
Although killing any suspicious, stray or feral animals has been repeatedly proven ineffective, until effective solutions are applied feral cats remain vulnerable to lethal control programs. The best means to protect both feral cats and human health is through widespread implementation of the oral wildlife vaccine. This solution requires legislators, regulatory agencies, wildlife managers, and animal control personnel to become educated about the advantages, effectiveness, and necessity of implementing this safe, ecologically sound, and humane response to the rabies epidemic. Alley Cat Allies advocates a comprehensive non-lethal rabies control program based on three primary initiatives:
1. Implementing widespread oral vaccine immunization barriers for key wildlife vector species, primarily raccoons and skunks.
2. Public education on steps to minimize human risk from wildlife rabies, including vaccinating outdoor cats and dogs.
3. Recognizing and supporting feral cat colony vaccination and management as an effective and important part of a comprehensive rabies control program.

The most effective means of stabilizing population, controlling rabies, and protecting human health is to sterilize and release healthy, vaccinated cats back into managed sites. These well established supervised colonies effectively occupy territory, remove the cats' need to range in search of food or mates, and actually provide a buffer zone for humans by discouraging wildlife and other stray cats from entering the area.
The second major component is a rabies vaccination for all colony members. In states where it is legally permitted, cats over one year old can be given three-year rabies vaccinations. Ask your veterinarian about the IMRAB rabies vaccine, which may offer better protection. In areas where rabies remains endemic, colony management may require retrapping for periodic booster vaccination. Identifying individual members and actively monitoring colony health are crucial to this enterprise. Finally, pre-exposure rabies vaccinations are absolutely vital for all those who handle feral cats: veterinarians, vet-technicians, animal control officers, and those involved in trapping.
Further measures for colonies in rabies epidemic areas include feeding only during the day and providing only enough food for immediate consumption. This minimizes contact at the feeding station with nocturnal wildlife. Clean up feeding areas before leaving the area, and where practical try to eliminate other nearby food sources that may attract wildlife.

Education represents an essential component of any effective response to the rabies epidemic. Everyone should realize that the wildlife rabies epidemic can be effectively controlled and represents a very minor threat to public health, which can be minimized with a few simple precautions. For further information on rabies and the effectiveness of non-lethal control methods now available, ACA suggests the materials listed below, used in preparing this fact sheet.

The National Academy of Sciences stated as long ago as 1973 that: ``Persistent trapping or poisoning as a means to rabies control should be abolished. There is no evidence that these costly and politically attractive programs reduce either wildlife reservoirs or rabies incidence. The money can be better spent on research, vaccination, compensation to stockmen for losses, education, and warning systems.''

In 1991, wildlife accounted for the majority of rabies cases (91%), with skunks and raccoons responsible for 74%

In France, oral immunization has reduced rabies by 80% in foxes and has virtually eliminated the disease in Belgium.

Managing feral colonies and rabies involves two major components: first, sterilization and management; second, vaccination.

``For the first time, through the use of oral immunization, a method for the elimination of rabies is available that is effective, safe, inexpensive and practical.'' - L.G. Schneider, of the World Health Organization's Center for Rabies Surveillance and Research.

``U.S. Rabies `Experts' Need A Dose of Own Medicine,'' by Bill Clark, Act'ionLine, the Friends of Animals magazine, Winter 1992.
``Control of Rabies in Wildlife,'' by William Winkler and Konrad Bogel, Scientific American, June 1992.
Booklet on Wildlife Rabies, published by the Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
``Special Commentary - Wildlife Rabies,'' Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA), Vol. 184, No. 5, March 1, 1984.
The Rabies Monitor, Rhone Merieux, 115 Transtech Drive, Athens, GA 30601.

1. Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
2. Special Reports: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Vol. 201, No. 12, December 15, 1992, ``Current Rabies Epidemic in the U.S.''
3. Figure represents actual cases in the U.S. More than 10,000 people are treated with post-exposure anti-serum at a cost of $30,000,000 per year. Treatment cost is $1,200 per person, while the oral wildlife vaccine is less than $1 per unit.
4. Scientific American, June 1992.
5. ``ACA Survey Results,'' Alley Cat Action, Summer 1992.