News Release 8-5-2002 |
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RABIES DROP PREVIEW Rural West Virginia will be the most likely beneficiary of the multi-agency Oral Rabies Vaccination (ORV) Drop tentatively scheduled for early-to-mid-August, according to Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “Rabies today is a full-time threat to our livestock, the ‘unofficial’ pets that inhabit many farms and, ultimately, to human beings who unwittingly may be exposed to the disease from a domestic animal that has contracted the disease from a wild animal,” said Commissioner Douglass. “Not many people vaccinate their livestock and other farm animals against rabies, which, without immediate intervention, is always fatal.” USDA’s Wildlife Services is funding the project, but the West Virginia Code gives Commissioner Douglass the legal authority to take actions to control animal diseases in the state. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) has provided office space at the Guthrie Agriculture Center for Wildlife Services’ employees, and has committed employees to ride in the planes to help with the drop. The State Division of Natural Resources (DNR) also has agreed to provide personnel to help onboard the airplanes. The State Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has been contracted by Wildlife Services to test raccoons to determine the “leading edge” of rabies’ westward migration. DHHR has been highly involved in explaining and publicizing the project, and in conducting ground baiting where airdrops would not be practical. Wildlife Services has contracted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for some testing as well. The coalition of state and federal government agencies will air drop 1.75 million small, vaccine-laden baits along a 30-mile wide corridor encompassing 34 counties from the Northern Panhandle through the southern coalfields. The project’s primary aim is to vaccinate raccoons, which are notorious for carrying and transmitting rabies, thereby halting the westward spread of the disease. |
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©2001, 2002 West Virginia Department of Agriculture, All Rights Reserved |
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