Animals

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