MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile County Health Department is marking World Rabies Day on Monday, Sept. 28, with a reminder that one of the world’s deadliest diseases is also one of the easiest to prevent — as long as pets stay vaccinated and animal bites get prompt attention.
World Rabies Day is an international awareness campaign coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization. It has been observed every Sept. 28 since 2007. The date marks the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur, the French scientist who developed the first rabies vaccine.
This year’s theme, “We are Stronger Together,” focuses on the idea that ending rabies takes coordinated work from veterinarians, physicians, public health agencies, animal control officers and pet owners.
“Rabies is almost 100 percent preventable, yet it remains nearly 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear,” said Kevin Michaels, M.D., M.P.H., Health Officer for Mobile County. “When families, clinicians, and community partners work together to keep pets vaccinated and respond quickly to animal bites, we can stop rabies before it starts and protect everyone in our community.”
World Rabies Day at a glance
- Date: Monday, Sept. 28, 2026
- Coordinated by: The Global Alliance for Rabies Control
- Observed since: 2007
- Why Sept. 28: The anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death in 1895
- 2026 theme: “We are Stronger Together”
- Local message: Keep dogs, cats and ferrets vaccinated, and treat every animal bite seriously
A disease that is preventable but almost always fatal
Rabies is a virus that attacks the central nervous system. It spreads from infected mammals to people, most often through a bite or scratch, and every warm-blooded mammal — humans included — can be infected.
After someone is exposed, the virus travels along the nerves toward the brain. Once it gets there and symptoms begin, the disease is almost always fatal. That is why health officials stress action in the window between a possible exposure and the start of symptoms.
According to the health department, signs of rabies can include:
- Unusual behavior and irritability
- Headache and fever
- Being unable to eat or drink
- Loss of balance and circling
- Seizures
- Coma, and eventually death
In animals, a change in behavior is often the first clue. A wild animal that seems unusually tame, a normally friendly pet that suddenly becomes aggressive, or an animal that is staggering, drooling or out in daylight when it normally would not be should be avoided and reported.
From Pasteur’s laboratory to today’s pet clinics
Pasteur’s development of the first rabies vaccine in 1885 is considered one of the landmark moments in the history of medicine. That July, Pasteur and his colleagues treated Joseph Meister, a 9-year-old boy who had been badly bitten by a rabid dog, with a series of injections. The boy survived, and word of the treatment quickly spread, drawing bite victims from across Europe and beyond to Paris. The Pasteur Institute, founded a few years later, grew out of that effort.
Pasteur’s work laid the foundation for the modern approach to rabies, which rests on two pillars: vaccinating animals so the virus cannot circulate among pets, and giving people timely treatment after a possible exposure.
More than a century later, routine vaccination of pets remains the most effective way to keep rabies from spreading in a community. Dogs, cats and ferrets live closely with people, and they can come into contact with infected wildlife in backyards, woods and fields. A vaccinated pet acts as a barrier between the virus in the wild and the family on the other side of the back door.
Rabies in the United States and Alabama
Thanks largely to pet vaccination and animal control programs, human rabies deaths in the United States are rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports fewer than 10 deaths each year nationwide. Bats are responsible for most of those cases, with at least seven of every 10 Americans who die of rabies having been infected through contact with a bat.
Prevention still carries a large workload. The CDC estimates that about 100,000 Americans receive rabies post-exposure treatment each year after a possible exposure.
Worldwide the picture is very different. The CDC estimates roughly 70,000 people die from rabies each year, and in the parts of the world where the disease remains common, domestic dogs cause more than 95 percent of those deaths. That global burden is the reason World Rabies Day emphasizes dog vaccination and cooperation across borders and professions. This month, the World Health Organization recognized Chile as the first country in South America validated as having eliminated dog-transmitted rabies as a public health problem.
In Alabama, the Alabama Department of Public Health tracks two main strains of the virus: a raccoon variant and a bat variant. Raccoons account for the majority of the state’s rabies cases each year, and the raccoon variant can also infect foxes, coyotes, skunks and pets. Each year, Alabama takes part in an Oral Rabies Vaccine program that distributes vaccine baits to help control the spread of rabies in wildlife.
Vaccination is required by law
Vaccination against rabies is required for dogs, cats and ferrets in Mobile County under local ordinance, the health department said. State law also requires rabies vaccination for dogs, cats and ferrets across Alabama.
Keeping a pet’s shots current does more than protect the animal. Vaccination status also affects what happens after a bite. A currently vaccinated pet that bites someone, or that is bitten by a wild animal, faces far less restrictive quarantine requirements than an unvaccinated one.
Low-cost shots through the health department
In Alabama, local health departments are responsible for providing affordable rabies vaccinations to pet owners. In Mobile County, the health department offers low-cost rabies shots for dogs, cats and ferrets during weekend clinics held at locations around the county. The vaccinations are good for one year.
The department’s Rabies Officer vaccinates thousands of household pets each year through those outreach clinics. As South Alabama News reported earlier this month, the officer vaccinated 3,261 household pets in 2025 — 2,585 dogs, 675 cats and one ferret. The September clinic schedule included two final stops on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Prichard Animal Shelter and at B&B Pet Stop on Cottage Hill Road, with shots priced at $15 per pet, payable in cash.
Pet owners who missed the September clinics can contact the Mobile County Health Department for upcoming dates, or visit their own veterinarian, who can administer the vaccine and provide a certificate and tag.
What to do if you are bitten or scratched
Because rabies is so deadly once symptoms begin, health officials urge people to treat any bite or scratch from an animal seriously, even if the animal seems healthy. The CDC recommends these steps:
- Wash the wound right away. Scrub it thoroughly with soap and water.
- Get medical care promptly. A doctor can evaluate the risk and decide whether treatment is needed.
- Follow through on treatment if advised. Post-exposure treatment includes wound care, a dose of immune globulin and a series of vaccine shots, and it is nearly 100 percent effective when given promptly.
- Report the bite. In Alabama, animal bites are reported to the local county health department, which works with animal control to follow up on the animal involved.
Contact with bats deserves special attention. Bat bites can be very small and easy to miss, so anyone who wakes up to find a bat in the room, or finds a bat near a child or a person who cannot say whether they were bitten, should seek medical advice.
Everyday steps for pet owners
The “Stronger Together” theme is a reminder that preventing rabies is a shared job. Pet owners can do their part with a few simple habits:
- Keep rabies vaccinations current for every dog, cat and ferret in the household.
- Supervise pets outdoors and keep them from roaming.
- Do not leave pet food outside, where it can attract raccoons and other wildlife.
- Never handle, feed or try to pet wild animals or unfamiliar strays.
- Teach children to stay away from animals they do not know and to tell an adult right away about any bite or scratch.
- Call animal control about animals acting strangely rather than approaching them.
Working together to end rabies
The Global Alliance for Rabies Control describes World Rabies Day as a chance for communities around the world to raise awareness and push for rabies elimination. Organizers encourage local events, education and pet vaccination drives, and they emphasize a “One Health” approach that recognizes how the health of people, animals and the environment are connected.
In Mobile County, that approach looks like a health officer, a rabies officer, local veterinarians, animal shelters and pet owners all pulling in the same direction. As Michaels put it, when the community works together to keep pets vaccinated and respond quickly to bites, rabies can be stopped before it starts.
For more information on rabies clinics and vaccination requirements, residents can contact the Mobile County Health Department.