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July 2025

Why prevention is crucial with the rabies virus

The best way to prevent rabies involves a slogan you probably won't hear on the lakes this summer: avoid the bite. Unfortunately, livestock and pet owners can't always protect their animals from the rabid bite of a skunk or bat. However, the next best way to battle back against this virus is the simplest and it involves your veterinarian. Pets like dogs, cats and horses should be kept up to date on routine rabies vaccinations. Vaccinating livestock for rabies depends more on the owners preference and they can work with their vet to decide if they want to make it part of their herd vaccine series or not. Prevention works best as it's difficult to casually notice a bite on your animals and once clinical signs appear it can be too late because rabies is a highly neurotropic virus. Neurotropic: what does that mean? Rabies virus prefers the nervous system and moves through it from the site of the bite until it reaches the brain. Why does this matter? Let's say a dog is bitten on the hind leg by a rabid skunk, the virus would take longer to reach the brain (the point of no return) than it would if the dog were to be bitten somewhere like its neck. This means clinical signs could take longer to appear, which highlights the importance of vaccination and talking to your vet if you notice any high-risk wildlife interactions with animals like skunks, bats, or raccoons. The short version of this story is to stay ahead of the rabies virus and get your dogs, cats and horses vaccinated. Cases are routinely reported to our office and we've seen a spike in recent wild animal detections for rabies.

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Yes, there are more mosquitoes this year

The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (mmcd) recently reported, "Mosquito numbers are at the highest level we've seen since 2020 thanks to rain, the emergence of cattail mosquitoes, and a few hot spots." For livestock and companion animals this means we need to be on the lookout and take proactive steps to prevent vectorborne (spread by insects like mosquitoes) diseases. The most common vectorborne diseases we deal with in the summer months are West Nile Virus (WNv) and Eastern/Western Equine Encephalitis (EEE/WEE) in horses. There are effective vaccines available to help protect against these infections and you should work with your veterinarian to make sure your horse is up to date.

Another culprit carried by mosquitoes is Heartworm disease, which affects dogs. Most dogs get monthly chewables to fend off this dangerous parasite. Talk to your vet today to find the right heartworm preventative for your pet.

Bookmark our companion animal webinar watchlist

Speaking of Heartworm disease, did you catch our latest companion animal webinar from Dr. Kivisto this month? It's part of a series of webinars aimed at the companion animal crowd to address important animal health issues. We announce and host a new webinar each month and if you don't happen to tune in live you can always catch the replays on our YouTube playlist.

New, New World Screwworm resources

New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae (maggots) burrow into the host’s living tissue. This differs from other species of fly whose maggots feed on dead tissue. NWS is endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and countries in South America. In early 2025 cases began spreading northward through Mexico. The USDA has current importation restrictions in place for cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico. It spreads most quickly through infected animals carrying either flies or larvae, especially animals traveling from affected regions. NWS can affect all warm-blooded animals (including people) and most cases are in cattle, sheep and goats. NWS larvae are transmitted when a female fly lays eggs on an open wound. Some common wound examples include insect bites, animal husbandry wounds, wire cuts, and other injuries. The NWS flies also target the navel of newborn animals. NWS infested wounds often attract other female screwworms and many infestations on a single wound are possible.

NWS resources:

Board meeting

You're invited to our September quarterly Board meeting at FarmAmerica in Waseca. Find the full Board meeting details on our website.

Healthy animals for healthy people and communities.

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