Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.thetomahawk.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=60440
Story published: 12-23-2013 ? Print Article ? E-mail Story to a Friend
Rabies vaccine baiting is decreasing spread of disease
By Jonathan Pleasant
Since 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture?s (USDA) Wildlife Services program has been actively engaged in preventing and eradicating the deadly rabies virus utilizing a wide variety of technologies and techniques. One of the agency?s most fascinating projects, and also the most successful, has been the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program or ORV, which focuses primarily on attacking the raccoon strain of the virus in its native environment.
A problem particularly in the Appalachian region of the Eastern United States, raccoon variant rabies was once one of the most common strains to affect local wildlife and pose a danger to humans and pets. As the name implies, raccoons are the most common carrier, making them the primary targets for research and testing as well as vaccination efforts. In fact, the main goal of the ORV program so far has been to strategically place environmentally friendly vaccine baits at locations all over the east coast.
Establishing a north to south zone running from Maine all the way to Alabama, the USDA has recently focused their efforts on trying to determine a solid western front for the disease. While this will likely be a long and difficult task, researchers and biologists like Erin Patrick from the agency?s Knoxville office firmly believe that this will be a key point in the battle against rabies...
Story published: 12-23-2013 ? Print Article ? E-mail Story to a Friend
Rabies vaccine baiting is decreasing spread of disease
By Jonathan Pleasant
Since 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture?s (USDA) Wildlife Services program has been actively engaged in preventing and eradicating the deadly rabies virus utilizing a wide variety of technologies and techniques. One of the agency?s most fascinating projects, and also the most successful, has been the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program or ORV, which focuses primarily on attacking the raccoon strain of the virus in its native environment.
A problem particularly in the Appalachian region of the Eastern United States, raccoon variant rabies was once one of the most common strains to affect local wildlife and pose a danger to humans and pets. As the name implies, raccoons are the most common carrier, making them the primary targets for research and testing as well as vaccination efforts. In fact, the main goal of the ORV program so far has been to strategically place environmentally friendly vaccine baits at locations all over the east coast.
Establishing a north to south zone running from Maine all the way to Alabama, the USDA has recently focused their efforts on trying to determine a solid western front for the disease. While this will likely be a long and difficult task, researchers and biologists like Erin Patrick from the agency?s Knoxville office firmly believe that this will be a key point in the battle against rabies...