Equine Rabies Vaccination in Orange County

Rabies is now considered a core vaccination by the American Association of Equine Practitioners. This means that all horse owners should consider vaccinating their horses annually. Rabies is almost always fatal and can be transmitted from horses or any other infected animals to humans.

In Northern California, rabies in horses is a serious problem. The incidence of rabies in Southern California is much lower. But almost every year the virus is identified in Southern California in bats. If a rabid bat happens to bite a horse (or a human, for that matter), then a clinical case of rabies could occur. The difference is that a human would know if he or she had been bitten and treatment to prevent rabies would be initiated. A horse would have no way of reporting such a bite until clinical signs of rabies occurred. Treatment is then unsuccessful, and the disease is uniformly fatal.

Annual vaccination with a rabies vaccination approved for horses is quite effective in preventing the disease.