Rabies program to begin Sunday

Sanitarians from the city and county health districts will participate in the baiting.

STAFF REPORT

COLUMBUS — Weather permitting, the state will begin its annual fall oral-rabies vaccination campaign Sunday in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties and other areas of Northeast Ohio.

The Ohio Departments of Health and Natural Resources, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services program and local health departments, plan to distribute vaccine bait Sunday through Sept. 26 in 16 northeast and eastern Ohio counties.

Vaccine-bait distribution will take place in all of Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Jefferson, Lake, Mahoning and Trumbull counties and parts of Belmont, Carroll, Cuyahoga, Harrison, Monroe, Noble, Portage, Summit and Washington counties. Aerial distribution should be complete within 10 days, but ground baiting may continue beyond Sept. 25, depending on weather, state health officials said.

Baits will be distributed by various methods in each county, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter and local health department staff in vehicles.

Sanitarians from the Youngstown City Health District and Mahoning County District Board of Health will participate in the ground baiting in Mahoning County, said Matthew Stefanak, Mahoning County health commissioner.

Two types of baits will be used. Airplanes will drop a small plastic sachet, about the size of a ketchup packet, coated in fish meal in rural areas. In urban areas, the vaccine will be inside a hard, brown, 2x2-inch fish-meal block that will be distributed by vehicles staffed by local health department personnel and other local agency volunteers.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects mammals and people. Since the mid-1970s, a type of rabies associated with raccoons has spread rapidly through the eastern United States. Spring and fall vaccine- baiting operations are intended to help curb the spread of raccoon rabies west of an immune barrier established by regular rabies vaccination that began in 1997. This immune barrier has successfully slowed the spread of rabies into Ohio from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, state health officials said.

As of Aug. 31, 2009, one skunk had been confirmed positive in Lake County for raccoon rabies, down from nine rabid animals in 2008, seven in Lake County and two in Trumbull County.

The rabies virus is found in the saliva of affected animals, most often raccoons, skunks and bats, and is spread by a bite or scratch. Bats, raccoons and skunks pose the greatest risk of rabies in Ohio.

To protect against this deadly disease, the state health department recommends that residents avoid contact with wild animals and animals they don’t know; and vaccinate their pets against rabies and keep them current on their shots.

If a person is bitten by a wild animal, a doctor should be notified. If a pet has contact with a wild animal, a veterinarian should be contacted. Rabies exposures also should be reported to the local health department, health officials said.

Ohio’s partners in the multistate baiting campaign are Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, in what is known as the Appalachian Ridge Oral Rabies Vaccination Program. Ohio has participated in the program since 1997 and has dropped almost 13 million baits in Ohio over that time.

“This local, state and federal partnership shows our commitment to controlling raccoon-rabies variant in Ohio,” said Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, director of the state department of health.

alcorn@vindy.com

Airplanes will drop a small plastic sachet, about the size of a ketchup packet, coated in fish meal in rural areas.

In urban areas, the vaccine will be inside a hard, brown, 2-x-2-inch fish-meal block that will be distributed by vehicles staffed by local health department personnel and other local agency volunteers.

PRECAUTIONS

Avoid the baits and keep pets confined during the baiting period.

Instruct children to leave the baits alone.

Once your area is baited, keep dogs and cats inside or on leashes for up to five days. Most baits disappear within 24 hours; however, it is important raccoons have every opportunity to eat them.

Do not attempt to take bait away from your pet; you may be bitten. The baits are not harmful to pets.

Anyone handling baits should wear gloves. If baits are found in areas frequented by pets or children, toss them into deeper cover. Damaged baits can be disposed of in the trash.

If a person is exposed to the vaccine (red liquid), thoroughly wash any areas of the skin that came into contact with the vaccine with soap and water.

If someone has been exposed to the vaccine or has questions about the baiting, call your local health department or the Ohio Department of Health’s information line at (888) 722-4371.

Source: Ohio Department of Health