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Rabies bait drop scheduled to begin Wednesday
The annual airdrop of vaccine baits by the Texas Department of State Health Services will begin Wednesday, according to a release from DSHS issued Monday.
The drops are credited with turning the tide against the spread of rabies strains carried by coyotes and gray foxes, according to DSHS.
According to the release, about 2.9 million baits will be dropped in 41 Texas counties, including Pecos County.
"The purpose has been to create and maintain zones of vaccinated coyotes in South Texas and gray foxes in west-central Texas to prevent the spread of rabies to other animals and humans, and to eventually eliminate canine and gray fox rabies in Texas," said DSHS veterinarian Ernest Oertli, director of the department's Oral Rabies Vaccination Program. "No human cases of rabies in either area have occurred since the airdrops began."
Five specially equipped planes will fly out of four airports, including from Pecos Municipal Airport Jan. 12, according to DSHS.
The first flights will be Wednesday out of Zapata County Airport and Kimble County Airport in Junction.
The number of animal cases of canine rabies in South Texas has declined from a high of 142 animal cases when the program began in 1995 to none through October. Gray fox cases are down overall from a high of 265 cases in 1994 to just 11 through October, according to DSHS.
Fish meal comprises the specialized baits for coyotes. The vanilla-flavored bait for gray foxes is made of dog food and molasses. Two millilitres of oral rabies vaccine are in each bait.
"The vaccine cannot cause rabies in people or animals," Oertli said.
DSHS said baits should not be handled because they contain a biological agent and are less likely to be consumed by wildlife. The baits are marked with a DSHS toll-free number - (877) 722-6725 - that people may call for more information.
"Getting pets vaccinated against rabies by a veterinarian as required by law is still essential to preventing the spread of rabies," Oertli said, adding that a domestic animal's rabies vaccination can be safely given even if the animal recently ate an oral rabies vaccine bait.
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