Rabies
Rabies is a virus that infects animals and people through bites, scratches, and other direct contact with infected animals. While infections are rare in people, the risk for severe disease and death subsequent to infection is high. It is crucial to prevent rabies in individuals who are at risk for occupational exposure, such as veterinary students.
Pre-exposure vaccinations
The rabies pre-exposure vaccine series is a three-shot series administered using an initial vaccine (day 0), a second dose at day 7, and the final series dose at day 21 or day 28. These vaccines are received via intramuscular injection in the arm. All OSU CVM students are required to receive this vaccine series.
University Health Services offers the RabAvert® rabies vaccines. Opportunities to receive this vaccine series will be made available on-site in McElroy Hall starting at orientation and continuing through August and September. Additionally, individual appointments can be scheduled through UHS using the Patient Portal or by calling 405-744-7665.
Costs may be filed with insurance and charged to the student’s bursar account. For information on additional cost-savings specific to veterinary students, please consider the AVMA VetSTEPPTM Essential Protection Package, which offers substantial reimbursement to help offset the cost of the rabies vaccine series or titers. For first year CVM students, enrollment begins 60 days prior to the first day of class and ends 45 days after the first day.