As part of an effort to address high rates of rabies in rural Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill to direct federal support to tribes for veterinary services, including spaying, neutering, and vaccination of domestic animals.
The bill, introduced in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, would enable the Indian Health Service to directly provide veterinary services and funding in areas where diseases like rabies that can be transmitted between humans and animals are widespread, and risk of transmission is elevated due to uncontrolled dog populations.
The bill notes the prevalence of rabies in Arctic and red fox populations in the northern and western regions of Alaska, as well as increased human exposures to rabid animals between 2020 and 2023.
In 2021, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation urged Western Alaska residents to vaccinate dogs for rabies after confirming the virus was found in foxes in three communities, including Bethel.
In 2023, Nome saw an alarming increase in rates of rabies in the region’s red fox population, where nearly a quarter of the 61 red foxes killed by state biologists in February and March tested positive for the virus. A number of the infected foxes were killed by dogs, which are overwhelmingly the main source of transmission of rabies to humans.
Alaska Native children have the highest rates of hospitalization for dog bites among those served under the Indian Health Service system, according to the bill. The Indian Health Service serves more than 2.7 million people nationwide.
The bill also includes a section directing the United States Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study looking at the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife directly or indirectly connected to transmission of rabies to tribal members.
Once clinical symptoms appear, the rabies virus is virtually 100% fatal in humans, according to the World Health Organization.
The bill will still need to pass through the Senate and House before becoming law.
