woman says wildlife rabies vaccine pellets made her pups sick
By Lisa Crane
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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WVTM) — Distribution dangers as efforts to prevent the spread of rabies are underway across the state. The Department of Agriculture is dropping oral rabies vaccines throughout the state for wildlife, specifically raccoons. According to the state, there are two rabies virus strains in Alabama, the raccoon variant and the bat variant. Officials said the raccoon strain can infect other animals, including your pets.
To help prevent the spread, rabies vaccine packets are being dropped from low-flying airplanes and helicopters and being distributed from vehicles throughout several Alabama counties.
Dogs sometimes have a nose for trouble. The rabies vaccine packets are designed to attract raccoons with a fish smell, but that can also be very tempting for your pet.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is distributing the bait in wooded areas. Dr. Dee Jones is the public health veterinarian for the Alabama Department of Public Health. He said, “We shouldn’t be finding any in yards. But human error sometimes, especially if we’re talking about distributing by helicopters and even airplanes even fixed wings, we can sometimes get a bait where it’s not supposed to be.”
A Moody woman said her dogs found a few dozen packets in her yard this week. One dog ate about 20 of them, and a second dog had about five. She said her pups were experiencing tremors and foaming at the mouth.
Jones said the packets are safe. He added, “They’re made with a vaccine inside, and on the packet, it will say a live rabies vaccine. It’ll say, ‘live rabies.’ Well, that’s not true. It is a killed vaccine. The rabies portion is a killed component of that vaccination.”
The owner of the dogs that ingested the vaccine took them to the veterinarian, and they are OK, but she wants to make sure other pet owners and parents understand what could be in or near their yards.
Jones said if you see one of the packets, you should try not to touch it with your bare skin. “It is a fishmeal baited attractant, so the raccoon will actually be attracted to that vaccine packet, and occasionally, that fishmeal can cause a skin reaction if someone were to touch it with their bare skin.”
Jones said they have been controlling rabies in raccoons with bait drops for almost 20 years and, so far, have not had any significant reactions reported.
If you find one in your yard, use a glove to pick it up and throw it away.
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