World Veterinary Day 2011 takes on rabies Schaumburg, IL — This year's World Veterinary Day, Saturday, April 30th, is being celebrated in a very auspicious year, because 2011 is World Veterinary Year. Vet 2011 celebrates the world's first veterinary school founded in Lyon, France, in 1761, marking the 250th anniversary of veterinary education. 2011 will also mark the 250th anniversary of the concept of comparative pathobiology, without which modern medicine would never have emerged.
But despite the tremendous technological advances veterinary medicine has made in the past 250 years, an age-old disease continues to wreak havoc around the world. The first case of rabies was reported more than 4,000 years ago when Babylonian dog owners were fined when their rabid dogs bit people. Rabies still kills approximately 55,000 people annually. What's more, 99 percent of human cases are caused by bites from infected dogs, which is preventable through vaccination.
"While rabies is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world – nearly 100 percent fatal once symptoms start – it is also preventable through control of stray animal populations and vaccination of pets," explains Dr. Larry Kornegay, president of the AVMA.
World Veterinary Day was started in 2000 by the World Veterinary Association to recognize the important work that veterinarians do around the globe. The accomplishments of this profession include:
- In 1885, veterinary scientist Dr. Daniel E. Salmon discovered the first strain of salmonella and pioneered the fight against this disease;
- In 1939, Dr. Otto Stader created the reduction splint to treat fractured bones in dogs, which was adapted for use to treat broken bones in humans;
- In 1996, Dr. Peter Doherty, a veterinary researcher, won the Nobel Prize for his discovery about how the body's immune system protects us from infections; and
- In 1999, Bronx Zoo veterinarian Dr. Tracy McNamara was the first person to identify that zoo animals and wild birds were dying from the same disease that was infecting people in New York – West Nile virus.
For more information, please visit www.avma.org, or visit the World Veterinary Day website at www.worldvet.org.
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The AVMA, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest and largest veterinary medical organizations in the world. More than 81,500 member veterinarians worldwide are engaged in a wide variety of professional activities. The year 2011 is being celebrated by veterinarians around the world as Vet2011, the 205th anniversary of the birth of veterinary medicine and education.
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= AVMA/SAVMA Members Only
