Raccoon Rabies Vaccine Drop Planned
Albany, March 25 – The State Health Department today announced as part of its efforts to reduce the incidence of raccoon rabies it will begin dropping raccoon rabies vaccine in an 800 square kilometer area, centered near Elizabethtown.
Researchers plan to drop about 25,000 doses of vaccine, contained in hollow fish meal biscuits, by helicopter starting April 1 if weather permits. Another 1,000 bait packages will be placed in locations that are accessible by motor vehicle or on foot. The bait distribution is intended to reinforce an "immune barrier" of vaccinated raccoons between Essex and Clinton counties.
The oral rabies vaccine study in the North Country began with a targeted bait distribution during the summer and fall of 1995 in parts of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin counties after several infected raccoons turned up 40 miles north of the expected rabies front line. Since the focal outbreak was controlled in the fall of 1995, Clinton County has had no further reported cases of raccoon rabies.
Additional rabies vaccine distribution took place during the fall of 1996 in Essex County.
The oral rabies vaccine presents no danger to either humans or domestic animals. Each bait package is labeled with instructions that it be left undisturbed and the State Health Department's telephone number is included for those who would like further information.
Researchers will live–trap raccoons in the treated area once again during the summer to find out how well wildlife vaccination is working. Results, to date, in a similar study conducted in the Capital Region have been promising. More than 47 percent of the 450 raccoons tested there were immune to the disease and rabies has been effectively suppressed in the vaccination area. However, health officials stress that oral vaccination can not replace traditional rabies prevention measures, such as vaccination of pets and human post–exposure treatment.
3/25/97-33 OPA
