Raccoon Rabies Making Its Way West

Raccoons from East Coast states are spreading rabies westward… and health officials say some animals are getting past their immunization barrier. That could be bad news for other Great Lakes states, particularly Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The rabid raccoons are a threat because they can bite dogs and cats… and those animals, in turn, can bite humans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen reports:

Transcript

Raccoons from East Coast states are spreading rabies westward… and
health officials say some animals are getting past their immunization
barrier. That could be bad news for other Great Lakes states,
particularly Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
The rabid raccoons are a threat because they can bite dogs and cats…
and those animals, in turn, can bite humans. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Bill Cohen reports:


For seven years, Ohio has tried to keep raccoons with rabies on the Pennsylvania side of its
border. Airplanes and helicopters have dropped vaccine-laden biscuits for raccoons to eat… to
immunize the animals and stop the spread of the disease westward. But now comes word that two
rabid raccoons have made it past the 25 mile-wide immunization zone.


Kathleen Smith is a veterinarian for the Ohio Health Department. She notes the biscuit drops are a practical tactic in an area that’s hemmed in by Lake
Erie and the Ohio river… but if the disease pushes deeper into Ohio, the
immunizations won’t be practical… and states to the west will be infected.


“If it gets past our barrier, northeast Ohio, it would be too cost prohibitive to use the oral vaccine to
stop it from spreading out of the state into the Midwest.”


Officials are asking northeast Ohio residents to tell them about any dead raccoons they spot,
even road kill, so authorities can try to figure out how the disease is moving westward.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Cohen in Columbus.

Related Links