Rabies is of concern not only to clinical veterinarians and technicians, but to veterinarians, animal care technicians, and investigators working in animal research facilities and field studies, as well. The incidence of human rabies in the US has decreased substantially following a dramatic decrease of rabies-infected animals since the 1940s and 1950s 3 . Between 1980 and 1997, 95-247 cases were reported each year among dogs, and only two human cases were reported in which rabies was attributable to variants of the virus associated with indigenous dogs 4 . Thus, the likelihood of human exposure to a rabid domestic animal in the US has decreased greatly. In most of the developing countries, including most of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, rabies is most frequently reported in dogs.
Bats are difficult to target for control by conventional methods.
During most of the 1990s, more cats than dogs were reported rabid in the US 2 . Long-term rabies control in wild terrestrial carnivores by widespread sustainable population reduction has not been successful in North America. In most other countries, dogs remain the major species with rabies and the most common source of rabies among humans 2 . Only Hawaii remains consistently rabies-free. Although rabies among humans is rare in the US, every year approximately 16,000-39,000 persons receive postexposure prophylaxis 10 .