Published: September 05, 2008 10:51 pm      

Rabies bait dropping in Mercer, McDowell

BLUEFIELD — Mercer County is among the southern West Virginia counties being included in a program to help stop the spread of raccoon rabies.

Since 2001, Wildlife Services, a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has been working to contain the spread of raccoon rabies by dropping oral rabies vaccine by airplane. The vaccine, part of fishmeal baits spread by the aircraft, is then consumed by raccoons.

The Wildlife Services has been working with West Virginia’s Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Resources to distribute oral rabies vaccine to portions of 26 West Virginia counties. This year the program includes portions of Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh and Wyoming counties in the southern half of the state.

Commissioner Gus R. Douglass of the state Department of Agriculture and Keith Wehner of the USDA are scheduled to visit the Mercer County Airport on Sept. 8 to discuss the program with local media, according to Communications Officer Buddy Davidson.

Bait dropping missions in the area will be flown out of the Mercer County Airport, Davidson said,

In 2007, Mercer County had 14 confirmed cases of raccoon rabies in the state, the highest number reported in West Virginia, according to the Mercer County Health Department.

Approximately six cases have been reported in the county so far in 2008. County health officials have continuously urged pet owners to have their dogs and cats vaccinated against rabies.

Property owner are urged not to leave food outdoors where raccoons and other wild animals can reach it.

West Virginia plays a crucial role in the vaccination zone that has been established from Maine to Alabama to prevent the westward spread of raccoon rabies, state officials said.