Rabies Vaccines From The Sky: Authorities Airdrop Vaccination Baits For Wildlife

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (UDSA) anti-rabies project is now underway. In some areas of the U.S., the agency will be airdropping the vaccination baits from the sky.

The project's aim is to "prevent the spread of raccoon rabies into America's heartland," the USDA noted in a news release. The agency began distributing the rabies vaccine earlier in August and will continue through to October.

Unlike the rabies vaccine shots that people may be familiar with when they take their pets to the veterinarian, the raccoons will be getting oral rabies vaccines that are coated with fishmeal to attract them. One can see photos of the small-sized baits here.

In rural areas, the vaccine will be delivered via an airplane, while it will be distributed in suburban and urban areas via "helicopter, vehicle and bait station." The distribution already began in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states this August, the agency noted, while distribution in Massachusetts will begin in mid-September.

Distribution will be in the Southern states come October.

"The RABORAL V-RG® vaccine has been deemed safe in more than 60 different species of animals, including domestic dogs and cats," according to the agency. "Humans and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the baits, but should leave them undisturbed if they are encountered."

Those who end up coming in contact with the baits are being advised to "immediately rinse the contact area" with soap and water.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, wild animals comprised 92.7% of rabies cases in the U.S. in 2018. This was most commonly reported in bats, but raccoons came in second, comprising 30.3% of rabid wildlife species.

In the U.S., the rabies virus variants are adapted to the host species, the agency said, meaning that these variants "primarily" affect the species that they have adapted to. Raccoon rabies, for instance, is mainly transmitted among raccoons, though there have been instances of "cross-species transmissions."

While the annual efforts to eliminate rabies in raccoons cost millions each year, it also saves millions more that would be needed for things like rabies tests, post-exposure vaccines for people, and public health investigations.

"The idea is that the fewer wild animals that have rabies, the less likely it is that people, pets, or livestock come into contact with the disease, which is 100 percent fatal if left untreated," National Geographic noted in a previous feature.

As the USDA said in its statement, "while rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, it also is 100% preventable."