Allegheny County to distribute rabies bait to vaccinate raccoons

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com

The Allegheny County Health Department is reminding county residents that the Annual Raccoon Rabies Vaccination Baiting Project will begin tomorrow.
Over the past 19 years there has been a significant reduction in human and pet exposures to rabies throughout Allegheny County, which is largely due to the efforts of the rabies vaccination program for wild raccoons spearheaded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, who ACHD partners with for the massive effort, according to the health department.
Beginning Friday and continuing through Aug. 17, employees and volunteers of ACHD and the USDA will be distributing vaccine-containing baits across Allegheny County by hand from ground vehicles from Friday to Aug. 10 and by helicopter Aug. 10 through 17.
The helicopter will be flying in North-South transects that do go over residential areas.
“As the transects are close together to ensure sufficient baiting, residents may see the helicopters moving slowly over the same area multiple times within a short period of time,” ACHD said, adding that because the helicopter activity could be alarming if residents are unaware of what is happening. The health department is asking residents to help get the word out about the baiting and when it will be happening in an effort to minimize upsetting the public.
Raccoon rabies is a viral infection that can affect the nervous system of any mammal, including humans, according to ACHD. Raccoon rabies spreads rapidly and infects large numbers of raccoons. The disease often spreads to other wildlife and pets.
The goal of the USDA’s National Rabies Management Program is to eliminate the raccoon variant of rabies from the United States. In Phase I (2001 to 2015) of the program, the goal was to contain the westward spread of the raccoon variant of rabies.

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