A rabies bait drop to prevent the spread of rabies is taking place this week in the north county.
The drop of small baits containing rabies vaccine are being deployed from fixed wing planes now through August 22.
The strategy, overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is part of a nationally coordinated effort to stop the spread of raccoon rabies in the continental United States.
Ongoing field evaluation of a new Oral Rabies Vaccine (ORV) called ONRAB began Wednesday, August 13 with aerial and hand distribution of baits. Chautauqua County will only receive baits from fixed wing aircraft. Baits will not be distributed by hand in Chautauqua County.
The baits will be dropped in northern areas of the county only, including areas in the Village of Brocton and the Towns of Portland, Arkwright, and Villenova.
The ONRAB bait consists of a Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) blister pack, containing the vaccine. To make the baits attractive, the blister packs are coated with a sweet substance that includes vegetable-based fats, wax, icing sugar, vegetable oil, artificial marshmallow flavor and dark-green food-grade dye. The baits are designed to be appealing to wildlife so animals will eat the bait and puncture the blister pack, thus exposing them to the vaccine inside.
The majority of efforts are focused on controlling raccoon rabies, which continues to account for most of the reported wildlife rabies cases in the U.S. Raccoon rabies occurs in all states east of the established ORV zone, which extends from Maine to northeastern Ohio to central Alabama.
Visit the USDA website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/national-wildlife-programs/rabies for a link to the ORV Daily Status Dashboard for a current map of bait drop areas throughout the U.S. and to learn more about the National Rabies Management Program.
If you have additional questions about the program, contact USDA Wildlife Services at 1-866-4USDA-WS (1-866-487-3297).
Chautauqua County’s Environmental Health Division can be contacted at (716) 753-4481 with County specific questions.
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