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8-5-2004 |
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The event is an opportunity for media representatives to interview experts on rabies and to view one of the new planes used in the ORV Program. Federal safety regulations prohibit anyone but members of participating agencies from flying on the planes. However, in-flight b-roll and still photos are available upon request. "Given the expanding population of raccoons and the wide range of habitat in which they live, rabies has now become a threat to human and animal health," said West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus Douglass. "This program is making great strides in controlling this disease, and the participating agencies are to be commended for the hard work and cooperation exhibited by their employees who volunteer for this program." The airdrop will consist of approximately 1.75 million small, vaccine-laden baits dispersed along a corridor stretching from the Northern Panhandle to the southern coalfields. The ORV Program's goal is to vaccinate raccoons, which are notorious for carrying and transmitting rabies, thereby halting the westward spread of the disease. Thirty counties are involved in August: Boone, Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis, Logan, Nicholas, Marion, McDowell, Mingo, Monongalia, Pleasants, Preston, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel and Wyoming. Oral rabies vaccine baits will be dispersed in four counties in West Virginia in September: Brooke, Hancock, Marshall and Ohio. This is the fourth year for the program in West Virginia. Testing has indicated that a substantial percentage of raccoons have been inoculated against rabies. State agencies involved include the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR). Federal agencies include USDA Wildlife Services and the Centers for Disease Control. USDA's Wildlife Services is funding the project, but state law gives Commissioner Douglass the legal authority to take actions to control animal diseases in the state. WVDA also provides 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. DNR and DHHR also have agreed to provide personnel to help onboard the airplanes. DHHR has been contracted by Wildlife Services to test raccoons to determine the "leading edge" of rabies' westward migration. Health departments in numerous counties have also been involved in surveillance activities. Wildlife Services has contracted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for some testing as well. A rain day has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 11, at 2 p.m.
Contact: Buddy Davidson The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org. |
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