
Nick Begich
51:06 - 51:34
"Rabies is not a historical threat in northern and western Alaska. It's enzoonotic, meaning it is consistently present in the wildlife, and our communities live with the risk of an exposure event every single year."
“Rabies is not a historical threat in northern and western Alaska. It's enzoonotic, meaning it is consistently present in the wildlife, and our communities live with the risk of an exposure event every single year.”
Rabies is not a historical threat in northern and western Alaska. It's enzoonotic, meaning it is consistently present in the wildlife, and our communities live with the risk of an exposure event every single year. The numbers tell the story. Alaska Native children are hospitalized for dog bites at roughly twice the rate of children nationally. In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, that rate climbs to 7 to 9 times than national per capita average.
A House subcommittee took testimony June 9 on legislation that would transfer a dormant 2000 tribal regulatory reform mandate from Commerce to Interior, 25 years after the authority was supposed to convene.

A House subcommittee heard testimony Tuesday on legislation authorizing Indian Health Service to fund veterinary care in rural Alaska communities facing endemic rabies and high dog-bite rates, addressing a public health gap that has left villages without basic animal disease prevention.
