There were some cases where our Vietnam pets (mostly dogs) had Rabies!
This resulted in some of our guys having to get a bunch of painful Rabies shots.
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Richard Thompson got a call from the Pentagon sometime after he got home to Michigan in October of 1972, asking if he was with F Troop in 1971. He very nervously said yes. Turns out it was about Rabies from the dogs that were at the Troop. Said he needed to see his Doctor right away for tests. He said okay but his Doctor would not be available for a couple of days. The guy said he will see you tomorrow! Be there. Although his tests were okay the Doctor recommended that he get the 12 shots. Richard said can I wait a while and see what happens? Doc says yes, but if it turns out that you do have Rabies you will die. So he took the 12 shots in the belly. Painful, but had no further reaction. The Doctor said that all the dogs in F Troop had to be put down because of rabies.
Steve Lentz: got rabies shots after returning from VN. Doctor told him even if the dog just licked his hand he needed shots. November 1972. Dog was in Da Nang.
Joel Andres, Flight Surgeon (Feb 71 to Jan 72) and helper Harlan Sparrow (Apr 71 to Apr 72) do not remember treating any cases of Rabies. Joel says: "Treatment of rabies in 1972 was difficult because Human Diploid Cell and Purified Chick Embryo Cell vaccines were not available. Instead, I believe poorly immunogenic brain tissue vaccine was the treatment. Active immunization was with Equine Antiserum which frequently led to adverse patient reactions. Vaccination is nowdays is with a 5-dose intramuscular schedule (versus a 10-12 dose schedule in 1972). Human (versus Equine in 1972) Rabies Immunoglobulin is now given via local infiltration of the active product into and around the wound (eg, dog bite), and any extra antibody is now given by intramuscular injection into buttock muscle."