DALTON, GA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture are conducting vaccine drops to combat wildlife rabies in Georgia and additional states this month.
Several agencies including the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, are working with the Georgia Department of Health to distribute oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits for wildlife in parts of north Georgia and surrounding states during the month of October.
USDA officials say low-flying airplanes will drop baits in north Georgia from approximately October 20-25, which will cover rural areas in Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union, Walker, and Whitfield counties in north Georgia.
Helicopter baiting is scheduled “from approximately October 7-10 and encompass the urban and suburban communities of Dalton, Chickamauga, LaFayette, Fort Oglethorpe, Ringgold, Rock Spring, Rome, and Tunnel Hill,” USDA officials said.
The initiative follows a health advisory issued last month by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to inform clinicians, health departments, and to inform the public about recent increases in animal rabies activity.
Last month, USDA officials announced plans to distribute 648,000 oral rabies vaccine baits through the Dalton project, which covers parts of Georgia. The baits will be distributed by airplane and helicopter.
USDA officials say the smell of the ORV baits attracts targeted wild animals, including raccoons, who eat the baits and are then vaccinated against rabies.
“ORV baits have been distributed in Georgia since 2003 as part of a larger effort by the Wildlife Services, National Rabies Management Program to prevent the westward spread of raccoon rabies by creating a barrier along the Appalachian Mountains from the Canadian border to Alabama,” USDA officials said.
Last week, the Georgia Wildlife Network reminded residents that the baits are intended for wildlife and should generally be left alone if they are found.
Across metro Atlanta, multiple rabies cases have been reported, including in Lawrenceville. Officials say a dead bat and a dead cat found earlier this year were infected with rabies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 90 percent of reported rabies cases in the U.S. are in wildlife. People are urged not to make contact with or feed wildlife and to keep their pets’ rabies vaccinations current.
“The vaccine baits have been proven safe in many species of animals, including domestic dogs and cats,” USDA officials said. “Humans and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the baits but are asked to leave them undisturbed should they encounter them. If contact with baits occurs, immediately wash the contact area with warm water and soap.”
If you find a bait, the USDA recommends leaving it where it is unless it is on a lawn, driveway or another area where it is unlikely to attract wildlife. If it needs to be moved, people should wear gloves or use a plastic bag as a barrier and wash their hands afterwards, officials added.
For more information about the oral rabies vaccination program, visit the USDA’s rabies information page.
