Raccoon baiting starts today in Allegheny County

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com

Carrying on an annual effort of trying to eliminate the raccoon variant of rabies, Allegheny County and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the 2021 raccoon baiting project begins today.

This is the 20th summer ACHD has worked with the USDA Wildlife Services to distribute hundreds of thousands of oral raccoon rabies vaccine baits across Allegheny County to eliminate the raccoon variant of rabies from the United States. 

In Phase I of the program from 2001 to 2015, the goal was to contain the westward spread of the variant. That goal was accomplished, according to ACHD. 

Phase II of the project, which started in 2016, aims to push the westward boundary of raccoon rabies eastward to the Atlantic Ocean.

“Allegheny County plays a critical role in rabies management and prevention in the United States,” Raccoon Rabies Baiting project manager Jamie Sokol said. “Hopefully, the success of our program will serve as a model for other metropolitan areas as efforts to eliminate rabies in raccoons shift towards the eastern seaboard.”

Crews will distribute more than 300,000 baits in all 130 Allegheny County municipalities and in parts of Beaver and Washington counties. 

Bait will be spread by hand and from vehicles through Aug. 10. 

Aircraft, including helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes, will distribute bait throughout the rest of this month. ACHD said residents might see aircraft moving slowly over the same area multiple times over a short period of time. The health department said that “could be alarming to residents who are unaware of the program,” and is asking area residents and organizations to spread the word about the program.

There’s a chance that area residents may come across the oral rabies vaccine baits, so ACHD and USDA Wildlife Services issued a description of what people should look for and do if they see a bait.

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