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2/29/2016 <br />I- <br />,i <br />New guidance for pets exposed to rabies <br />-- M <br />The Rabies Laboratory at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory offers the rapid fluorescent foci <br />inhibition test for rabies - neutralizing antibodies in serum. Veterinary student Morgan Taylor (far left) fixes <br />slides in acetone in a chemical fume hood, checking the cell layer. At the workbench, research assistants <br />Sami Pralle (foreground) and Beth McQuade stain fixed slides. (Photos by Tommy Theis /K -State Photo <br />Services) <br />The 2016 edition of the compendium also advises reducing the quarantine period from six months to four for <br />unvaccinated cats and dogs exposed to rabies. The compendium committee based the guidance on unpublished <br />data from various states. <br />Furthermore, the 2016 edition includes a recommendation "to collect and report at the national level additional data <br />elements on rabid domestic animals." <br />Pet owners are not always aware when their cat or dog has been exposed to rabies, unfortunately. Dr. Brown re- <br />emphasized the need to vaccinate. She said, "The best protection against rabies in both an individual animal and in <br />the population is to have all of them currently vaccinated against rabies." <br />The study <br />Dr. Michael C. Moore, lead author of the study on out -of -date vaccination status, joined the Kansas State Veterinary <br />Diagnostic Laboratory in 1999. One of his duties was to answer phone calls regarding rabies antibody titers, but the <br />compendium did not give a lot of leeway for using titers to assess the immune status of cats and dogs exposed to <br />rabies. <br />"In humans, we utilize titers," Dr. Moore said. "In humans, if they're pre- exposure vaccinated and exposed to rabies, <br />we booster them with great success, and they don't develop disease." <br />Dr. Moore and colleagues at Kansas State decided to evaluate whether cats and dogs overdue for a vaccine respond <br />as well to a booster as cats and dogs with current vaccination status do. The researchers started to collect data, <br />mostly from veterinarians who called wanting help assessing the immune status of a client's animal. <br />https: / /www.avma.orglnewsljavmanews /pages /16030la.aspx ?utm_ source = javma- news &utm_ medium= email &utm campaign= gen &PF =1 2/,' <br />