Source: Mylissia Stukey, mstukey@vet.k-state.edu
Web site: http://www.worldrabiesday.org

Friday, Feb. 27, 2009

K-STATE'S 2008 WORLD RABIES DAY EVENTS EARN FIRST PLACE; HONOR MEANS UNIVERSITY TO BE SITE OF INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON RABIES IN FALL 2009

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association has won first place in a competition involving events for World Rabies Day 2008.

By having the highest student participation in its 2008 World Rabies Day events, the K-State campus will now be the site of a full-day rabies symposium to feature international experts. The conference, set for Sept. 19 at the K-State Alumni Center, will be sponsored by Merial, one of the world's leading animal health companies.

The events organized by the K-State student veterinary organization included a joint American Veterinary Medical Association/American Medical Association lecture, a 5K/10K run and a children's activity day. Student participation at K-State was the highest among the 14 veterinary schools sponsoring events to mark World Rabies Day. Events at K-State took place Sept. 26 and 28, 2008.

Chris Potanas, a third-year veterinary medicine student, Manhattan, was coordinator of 2008 World Rabies Day events in Manhattan. Potanas is president of the K-State Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Adam Lukert, second-year veterinary medicine student, Delia, is president-elect of the student organization and will serve as coordinator of 2009 World Rabies Day events in Manhattan.

According to the Alliance for Rabies Control, the mission of Global World Rabies Day Campaign is to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent it, and how to eliminate the main global sources. Rabies in humans is 100 percent preventable through prompt appropriate medical care; however, more than 55,000 people, mostly in Africa and Asia, die from rabies every year. The most important global source of rabies in humans is from uncontrolled rabies in dogs. Children are often at greatest risk from rabies as they are more likely to be bitten by dogs, and are also more likely to be severely exposed through multiple bites in high-risk sites on the body. More information on the Alliance for Rabies Control and World Rabies Day Campaign is available at http://www.worldrabiesday.org and http://www.rabiescontrol.net