ORV Bait types (top right to bottom left): blister pack, fishmeal-coated cube, fishmeal-coated sachet. (USDA)
From WDBJ7
As rabies remains a serious public health concern, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be spreading millions of rabies vaccine doses in bait across the Southeast.
The annual program is aimed at stopping the spread of raccoon rabies by airdropping and spreading fishmeal-coated sachets of the vaccine to be consumed by wildlife.
During October, the following projects will distribute rabies vaccines to wildlife:
The Abingdon, Va., project will cover parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and a small portion of southern West Virginia, distributing more than 686,000 ORV baits by airplane, helicopter, and vehicle.
The Andrews, N.C., project will include areas in western North Carolina and north Georgia and will distribute approximately 415,000 ORV baits by airplane, helicopter and vehicle.
The Dalton, Ga., project will cover areas in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, distributing 648,000 ORV baits by airplane and helicopter.
The Gadsden, Ala., project will cover parts of northeast and central Alabama and distribute approximately 712,000 baits by airplane, helicopter, and vehicle.
If you encounter the rabies vaccine sachets, you should leave them undisturbed. They are safe for domestic dogs and cats. The USDA said dogs that eat multiple baits may experience a temporary upset stomach, but there are no long-term health risks.
FOX Carolina News asked why South Carolina, which also sees dozens of cases of raccoon rabies per year, is not included in the program.
A spokesperson for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued the following statement:
"Oral rabies vaccine zones are positioned in areas of states representing the westernmost extent of where raccoon rabies is present geographically. In the southeast, those boundaries are present in southeast VA, western NC, east TN, northern GA and AL. The goal is to prevent westward spread of raccoon rabies by creating a continuous vaccine barrier that stays in front of rabies occurrence on the landscape that eventually will be moved further to the east as rabies is locally and regionally eliminated. The program is very close to establishing an ORV area in South Carolina counties bordering North Carolina and Georgia in the next few years. However, raccoon rabies is present throughout the state of SC and other nearby states and the program does not 'spot treat' local areas of outbreak that are not part of the continuous barrier
So rabies vaccines come as edibles now? Why does my dog still need an injection for it?
Excellent question!
It mostly boils down to ORV being a newer product. Giving them a traditional shot (known as a parenteral vaccine) is backed up with greater history and that is what is accepted as effective rabies control in pets in every country. It's also cheaper to provide, and licensed providers are trained in its proper use. The effective rate is very high - 92.7% in this study comparing effectiveness of parenteral vs ORV vaccinations.
In that same study, ORV had an appropriate antibody producing response in 77.8% of the dogs evaluated. That's about 15% less effective, and without a 70% effectiveness, an area is not considered to be effectively covered, so that doesn't leave much of a margin of error. Given the study was done with many wild or free-roaming dogs, they also could not determine if all vaccine was fully consumed, or if the vaccine containing blister in the bait was fully punctured.
They also tested improperly stored vaccines against the oral vaccine, since they were looking at effectiveness in parts of the world where veterinary care was unaffordable or unfeasable, and the potentially weakened or expired vaccines could still be more effective, assuming the animals can be caught to inject.
So, we're not there yet with this being a proven or accepted method for pets, which are going to be around, and therefore biting, humans much more often than wild dogs or wildlife. But in cases where there are large numbers of wild domestic animals with no owners or owners with means to get them vaccinated, or with wildlife, ORV is almost 80% more effective than the nothing they'd otherwise receive.
Maybe the rabiolis only work on raccoons?
You win my Lemmy Gold for the day! 🤣
my first though but for humans. like if I get bit can I just eat something instead of a bunch of legendary aweful injections.
Honestly, that would be great for a pre-exposure vaccine for someone like me. I have to get a titer regularly anyway, which no one does on their pet, so the lower effectiveness isn't such the potential drawback as it is for them. (The cost would have to be lower to make it worth it though.) My shots were a series of 3 subcutaneous injections, the primary, a second 7 days later, and the third was 14 days after the second, then give it 4 weeks+ and get the titer. Didn't hurt, just felt like a really swollen bug bite.
Cost is a huge issue, though I think it's more a supply/demand thing for the human version than the vaccine in general, as there are endless free/low cost shot clinics for pets. Average price for humans is around $1200 USD for the series of 3. It also doesn't last very long. We need to get retested every 2 years and get a booster if we dip below the suggested antibody level. Being volunteers, we had access to some off-label, but effective access to the shots, making them $100 each for the 3-shot series I got and another $100 for the booster since the initial 3 didn't give me enough resistance.
Even at that steep discount, think about how often you feel you may be exposed to rabies, and ask yourself if you'd pay the original $300, and then an ongoing $100 maybe every 2 years or so... Keep in mind, if I get bit, I would still need to get post-exposure shots because I'm not crazy. Insurance should cover shots after a bite, but I'm on a high deductible plan, so I'll be paying for those too in all likelihood, should I need them.
Rabies also usually takes a few days to weeks (sometimes longer even) to travel through our nervous system, so you will often have (relatively!) ample time to get a post-exposure vaccine that is just as effective. So between the cost, low effective time, and typical lack of necessity for most people, it doesn't make sense for regular people to get vaccinated.
Here is a really good, simple, yet very elaborate article from CHOP about pre- and post-exposure vaccines. It should cover almost any questions you guys should have.
Also, to assuage the fear some may have based on getting post-exposure shots, it's no longer a huge series of painful injections.
The CHOP article says the shots are in the shoulder, but I also have heard there are shots at the bite site, and this CDC article talks about a combo of one shot at the bite site, and up to 4 in the shoulder.
There's also one thing more I want to touch on since we're getting deep into this...
It's this last transmission risk (If the animal licks the mouth, nose or eyes of a person) I'd like to reinforce.
You can handle an animal to bring it to a rehab. But, (begin rant) this is one of the huge reasons we stress to handle them minimally and not to hold them unnecessarily, and for the love of all that is holy...do not let kids touch them! We have to euthanize any animal that may have potentially infected someone. If you have people touching it, holding it, etc, you are greatly going to put that animal at risk of being put down even if it is likely 100% healthy because the government mandates we protect the lives of ignorant humans over the animals.
If you think this ignorance is uncommon, you will be sadly let down. We have people that hold onto the animal for days, lets friends/family/kids play and take selfies with them cuz ooooo....wild animal! We have people eat/drink/smoke/dip/etc right after handling them. And we will tell you to go get rabies shots and we will have to euthanize that animal, baby, young, old, sick, healthy, whatever. Handle them the bare minimum, then wash your dang hands, and get that animal to a clinic pronto! (end rant)
see I feel if the prophylactic shot was available to everyone and covered I think the cost of the injections would go way down to were its not costing the system that much. Don't really need to titer if its just general prophylactic but the way I understand it then you would just need a booster if you got bit. Yeah though I could not swing the $300 certainly now and given how unoften could not even see it as a splurge when I have money. Curiously we get my dog titered because she has these bowel issues that are tied to allergy and basically almost anything sends her into a flare. she only gets a boost when the titer shows low.
100% agree, it's not like it's new medicine.
The long term effectiveness is still a bit of a hassle. It'd be the same as with pets, where every 1-3 years, we'd have to get boosters. It's much more likely for someone's animal to get into contact with infected wildlife, especially if they get out of site and can't communicate potential exposures to us. We thankfully are aware when we're in contact with sketchy animals and can get ourselves to help. We'd still need to get our pets the shots, and they are our primary transmission vector, rather than the wildlife itself. And we'd still need the post-transmission vaccine, which is just an extra shot or 2 than someone pre-vaxxed would need.
I wouldn't tell anyone not to get it if they felt it would benefit them. Other than the money and the special travel, it was quick and almost fully painless. But we already pay out of pocket for our pets, removing almost all risk for normal people, and insurance already covers the post shots which will still save your life just as reliably, so I can see why they'd not want to cover both. It's probably an unfounded worry on their part too, as I don't think millions would be flocking to get it. Most normies don't want to be touching random bitey wild animals to begin with.
I view it a bit like tetnus. oh its been three years im do for a booster. of course many do not get tetanus until they step on a nail or such to.
because your dog isn't a racoon.
What if raccoon dog?
(technically a canid, but not a dog (Canis))