Dr. Melvin Abelseth

Dr Melvin Abelseth passed away peacefully on July 11 2015 at the age of 91. Mel received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Guelph (Ontario) in Canada and then his PhD in virology from the University of Minnesota in the USA.

His work was instrumental to the development of the rabies vaccine derived from the ERA virus strain, widely used as a parenteral vaccine and also the basis for the first experiments with oral vaccination. All modern oral rabies virus vaccines are derived from the original ERA strain. Mel was a rabies expert for the World Health Organization for many years. In 1967 Mel moved with his family from Canada to Albany to become the state veterinarian and director of the rabies lab there. He retired in 1988.

A more detailed person obituary is available here and friends and colleagues are invited to send a contribution to the charity of their choice or do something wonderful for someone today in his memory.