Guidance relaxes requirements for pets with lapsed rabies vaccine.

Cats and dogs with out-of-date vaccinations when exposed to rabies can receive a booster and be subject to an observation period, rather than quarantine or euthanasia, according to the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians in the 2016 edition of the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control. The change follows a paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that found that dogs whose vaccination status had lapsed demonstrated an adequate antibody response to support the change. Veterinarian Catherine Brown said the guidance does not mitigate the need to keep current on vaccination. Full Story: JAVMA News