Rabies is not inborn in dogs and cats, experts clarify, as the Philippines continues to log rabies deaths nationwide.

Unlike common misconceptions, dogs and cats could only be infected with rabies if they get in contact with the saliva of a rabid animal through nibbling, licking, biting, and even scratching, said Jeffrey Verona, an infectious disease specialist from San Lazaro Hospital.

“When a puppy, napanganak siya, usually wala talaga siyang rabies. The one thing na pwede siya magkaroon ng rabies is that number one, contact with the saliva [of ] a rabid animal,” Verona said.

Matthew Benedict Calibo, faculty-in-charge of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Veterinary Teaching Hospital, echoed this, calling the misconception about rabies “very wrong.”

“It’s a very common misconception that puppies and kittens are born with rabies or that eventually, somehow, they’ll get rabies if they’re not vaccinated. That’s not true. No animal, no mammal is born with rabies. No animal is inborn with rabies,” Calibo said.

“So it has to be corrected, the misconception, na they’re born with it. [It] is very wrong. It’s something na I feel Filipinos really propagate the wrong way,” he added.

From January 1 to August 12 this year alone, the Department of Health has logged 230 cases of rabies nationwide, all of which are fatalities.

Calabarzon topped the list, with 39 fatalities, followed by Region 3 with 33 and Regions 9 and 11 with 20.

Fatal but preventable

While rabies guarantees death once an animal or human gets infected by it, it is also highly preventable through pre-exposure and immediate post-exposure vaccinations.

“Rabies is a highly preventable disease [but] we have to be vigilant din. If you’re a pet owner, if you are a fur parent, your dog or your cat, your fur babies should be vaccinated and should be updated sa mga veterinarians. As a pet owner, fur parents, you also should be vaccinated… as well as your family members,” Verona said.

To be safe from rabies, Verona urged the public to get vaccinated even before getting bitten.

“It is prudent to be vaccinated… it is important for us to be vaccinated pa rin kasi if we get vaccinated, long term protection na siya and booster na lang siya eventually,” he said.

“If you were going to wait kung yung gagastos ka sa immunization versus doon sa ipapa-walang bahala mo siya, mas marami pa rin 'yung benefit doon sa vaccination. I would highly recommend that vaccination be done,” he added.

Vaccine hesitancy is still common among Filipinos, Verona said, adding that this might be one of the reasons why rabies still exists in the country.

“They (the government and local government units) should encourage vaccination pa rin na rabies vaccine is safe [and] it’s been there for the longest time,” he said.

Public animal bite centers offer free rabies vaccination while there are private animal bite centers that offer paid rabies vaccination.

For unvaccinated people who might get bitten by animals, Verona suggested that they immediately go to an animal bite center to get assessed and get vaccinated.

While it is important to keep humans safe from rabies, it is also equally important to protect animals from the deadly virus.

Calibo stressed the importance of getting pets vaccinated with anti-rabies vaccine.

“If an animal, for example, or most especially our pet dogs and cats, if they’re vaccinated for rabies, then they’re protected against it. It’s very dangerous to bring your pets outside where they may interact with other animals [if] ‘di natin alam kung may rabies or not,” he said.

“Like most viruses that already have vaccines, or that we have vaccines against, we should get our pets, especially, vaccinated against rabies,” he added.

Rabies symptoms

Once an animal gets infected by rabies, it will exhibit behavioral changes, Calibo said.

Some of the most common symptoms include hyperactivity, anxious and lethargic behavior, hypersalivation, aggressiveness, and inability to properly control movements.

Animals with rabies also often die within 10-14 days.

Humans who get infected by rabies also display behavioral changes, Verona said.

Symptoms commonly include agitation, hyperactivity, photophobia or feeling of discomfort from bright lights, and hydrophobia or fear of water.

“Usually, if the symptoms of rabies sets in, usually it’s too late na… 'Di na siya mahahabol ng vaccine. So there will come a time na that rabid animal will die from rabies,” Verona said.

Call for action

For Calibo, a life lost to rabies is a life too many, that is why he calls for a rabies-free Philippines.

“We do not like the statistics at all na merong even one na namatay dahil sa rabies kasi in this day and age wherein the vaccine is readily available… dapat vaccinated na tayo against it completely,” he said.

“It’s even more tragic if meron pang human death na kasama,” he added.

Calibo also stressed the importance of kindness to animals, urging people to stop animal cruelty.

“There’s absolutely no reason to be cruel to animals. People who are cruel for no reason, then those people need to be stopped and those people need to be put in their place kasi there’s really no reason to be cruel to animals especially if the animals aren’t doing anything[,]” he said.

“Everyone in the country should be made [aware] of the fact that animal cruelty is wrong. That is the only statement that needs to be repeated, that needs to be heard, and needs to be propagated. There’s really no justification for animal cruelty,” he added.