HB 2598 Summary

• Authorizes veterinarians to administer rabies antibody titer tests to dogs that have received at least one rabies vaccination to determine vaccine effectiveness and detect vaccine failure.

• Requires titer test results showing immune response or lack thereof to be shared with the state public health veterinarian for data collection to update national rabies prevention guidelines.

• Directs the state veterinarian and state public health veterinarian to improve serology testing strategies to reduce underreported adverse vaccine reactions and identify vaccine nonresponders.

• Applies only to dogs and defines "rabies antibody titer test" as a test measuring immune response against rabies virus or vaccine.