Penn State helping to stop spread of rabies

Penn State helping to stop spread of rabies

University Park, Pa. -- The costs of dealing with rabies are extremely high, and that's why a wildlife expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other agencies to stop rabies from moving west out of Pennsylvania.

"Ohio doesn't have much raccoon rabies -- it just has not gotten there yet," explains Gary San Julian, professor of wildlife resources. "Rabies was brought to Pennsylvania from the South. The costs involved when a person is bitten are high -- rabies is a massive problem, so it's critical to try to stop it here."

The USDA dropped fish meal pellets containing a raccoon rabies vaccine in September from low-flying aircraft in the less densely populated areas of Mercer, Lawrence, Beaver, Washington and Greene counties, and in parts of Erie, Crawford, Venango, Butler, Allegheny, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.

The baited zone extended approximately 60 miles into Pennsylvania and officials say the drops will move eastward in future years as funding permits. The vaccine contains only a small, non-infective portion of the rabies virus that cannot cause rabies. When a raccoon punctures the sealed plastic package, the vaccine is released into its mouth.

"The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is attempting to establish a barrier stretching from the eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania Lake Erie shoreline southward through West Virginia, Virginia and into northern Tennessee to reduce the risk of raccoon rabies spreading westward into the Midwest states," says San Julian. "Rabies came into Pennsylvania so quickly from the south. It made a geographic jump in the 1960s that most people think it shouldn't have been able to make, and we need to stop it from making another big jump into the Midwest."

A number of agencies are participating in the effort to stop rabies from spreading west from Pennsylvania, including the USDA, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Allegheny County Department of Health, Erie County Department of Health, Pennsylvania Game Commission and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Penn State is part of the Rabies Task Force and is doing research on rabies in Pennsylvania for the USDA.

"This is the second year for dropping raccoon baits and the program is critical for helping to control the spread of rabies," says San Julian. "It's a serious concern here in Pennsylvania. This year, by the end of September, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, a total of 321 confirmed cases of animal rabies have been reported. Of this number, 188 were raccoons."