Published: September 08, 2008 08:08 pm      

Getting the drop on rabies problem:

BLUEFIELD — A partnership of three agencies — the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health and the state Department of Agriculture — teamed up to work together on the on-going rabies vaccination program in the east, to stop the spread of raccoon rabies.

“Think of it as a fire line,” Christopher Croson, wildlife biologist/state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said during a press conference Monday afternoon at the Mercer County Airport.

“We’re the western side of that line here in Mercer County,” Croson said. “We are part of the national rabies management program, attempting to stop the spread of raccoon rabies. We were able to move five miles east into Mercer County this year, and we can bait a number of hot spots, but we can’t go too far east. This is a national zone.”

Croson and Dr. David J. Henzler, D.V.M., Ph.D., epidemiologist of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health Surveillance & Disease Control, flew into the airport to meet with Commissioner Gus R. Douglass of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.

“We couldn’t do this progress without the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture,” Croson said. “The reason this works is because we have a partnership with these agencies.”

Croson explained that the Upshur oral rabies vaccination program originates at Lake Erie, extends south through western Pennsylvania along the state’s northern panhandle, enters the state near Morgantown, continues due south until it jogs left in Randolph County. “It goes right through the middle of the state,” Croson said.

While Croson was talking about the parameters and national implications of the oral rabies vaccine bait distribution program, Henzler urged the media attending the press conference to encourage viewers, listeners and readers to get their pets vaccinated, and keep them from running free during the two weeks of the bait drop.

“Folks shouldn’t let their pets run loose,” Henzler said. “They need to be on a leash for the next two to three weeks.” Henzler provided some sobering statistics including that the health department tests an estimated 2,100 to 2,500 animals per year and that of that number, one in every four of those animals has had contact with a pet.

“Gee, you’ve got to get your pets vaccinated and keep their vaccinations up to date,” Henzler said. “It’s very important.” Henzler lamented that, as a veterinarian, he doesn’t like to perform euthanasia on pets that have been in contact with rabid animals.

The three agencies launched the Upshur ORV program on Saturday. “That was a rough day,” Henzler said. “With the weather we had, it was a bumpy ride.”

Douglass said there are two things that contribute to making the bait drop flights somewhat challenging. “First, they fly at a low altitude, and that can be tough, and second, the smell of the bait takes some time to get used to.”

Douglass also urged the media to spread the word to pet owners to get their pets vaccinated to protect against rabies. “The media has been very helpful in getting that message out to the public,” Douglass said. “It is really so important.”

He shared a story about a family of five people in Hampshire County that had to be treated for rabies after being exposed to the disease through a family pet that had contracted the disease. “You don’t want to ignore it,” Douglass said.

Douglass said that veterinarians and medical doctors face the challenge of diagnosing rabies. “It mimics the West Nile virus,” he said. Douglass expressed his appreciation to U.S. Senators Robert C. Byrd and John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV, for their support of the Upshur ORV Project. He emphasized that “prevention,” is the key to addressing the rabies problem.

Henzler said that rabies is rare in the state’s bear population, but said that he finds rabies in the raccoon, bat, skunk and feral cat populations in the state.

Despite the presence of rabies in the bat population, he said that “bats consume 10,000 mosquitoes per night, and a recent study in New York revealed that only one in every 100 free-flying bats have rabies, and about 1 in 50. in-house bats have the disease. Henzler cautioned people to stay away from any animals that display unusual behavior.

“We drop about 91 baits per minute when we’re flying,” Croson said. “That is about 75 baits per square kilometer. We hand-bait urban areas because there are plenty of urban raccoons.”

All three men urged people to stay away from wild animals when they encounter and to keep children away from wild animals. They also urged pet owners to keep their pets indoors. Henzler said the bait isn’t harmful to pets, but they can be drawn by the smell and taste of the bait just like the wild animals are.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com