CDC: Rabies not confined to borders

ATLANTA, July 9 (UPI) -- Rabies often is not confined to the borders of any country and coordinated international efforts are necessary to investigate cases, U.S. officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Weekly Report said countries should coordinate investigations of multinational cases and re-enforce preventative messages domestically and internationally, especially regarding human rabies prevention and animal rabies control along shared borders.

Rabies can be fatal fatal disease without timely vaccination after an exposure. The risk of being exposed to rabies remains high in countries where dog rabies has not been controlled, the report said.

Human cases of rabies in the United States among persons recently immigrating from abroad are a reminder of the global impact of rabies and complications, such as language barriers and cultural factors that can arise during contact investigations, the report said.

"A recent case of rabies reported from California in an immigrant from Mexico demonstrates the need for improved coordination among international entities to fully address these -- and other -- issues that affect the health status of persons crossing national boundaries," the report said.