OMAHA — Another part of an unprecedented native operation to stop a wildlife rabies outbreak launched Wednesday — with some 18,000 oral vaccine bait packets being placed round Nebraska’s most populated county.
Spreading out throughout a 62-square-mile space of Douglas County to drop the two-inch sachets coated with a fishmeal attractant are investigators with county, state and federal governments.
Raccoons are the audience of the trouble, which was sparked by the invention final month — in a stray kitten — of a raccoon rabies variant by no means earlier than seen in Nebraska. Officials mentioned they could by no means understand how the newborn cat, believed to be lower than 2 months old, contracted the illness.
‘Encouraging’ outcomes to this point
Distribution of the oral rabies vaccine packets, which is to happen most closely Wednesday by way of Saturday, builds upon earlier and ongoing steps to entice, vaccinate after which launch raccoons. Roadkill specimens are also being examined.
So far, not one of the greater than 650 animals or about 200 carcasses confirmed any signal of rabies, mentioned Phil Rooney, spokesman for the County Health Department.
“It’s encouraging that we haven’t found rabies, but the vigilance will continue,” Rooney mentioned.
The multi-tiered, multi-agency efforts to push back a expensive and harmful rabies unfold adopted checks carried out on the stray kitten, which had been taken in by an Omaha household. Results revealed a raccoon rabies virus not seen west of the Appalachian Mountains. County officers held a information convention Oct. 16 to debate early steps.
“Since this strain of rabies hasn’t been found within 850 miles of here, it was vital to take quick action,” mentioned Rooney.
Rabies strains present in Nebraska are in skunks and bats, he mentioned. Because raccoons work together extra with pets and are extra commonplace within the state, concern was heightened.
“The estimate is that if this variant becomes established, it results in six times the number of human exposures we currently see,” Rooney mentioned. “There also is no natural boundary to prevent it from spreading to other states in the region.”
665 raccoons, some skunks, cats and a fox
As of Wednesday morning, the investigation led by the Douglas County Health Department and U.S. Department Of Agriculture’s Fish and Wildlife Services had produced no alarming findings.
A aim was to entice and vaccinate about 1,000 raccoons, an quantity that officers consider would assist, together with the oral vaccine packets, to build an immunity within the raccoon inhabitants.
In addition to 665 raccoons, as of Wednesday roughly 35 skunks, three cats and one crimson fox had been lured and captured within the cage traps. Almost all have been vaccinated and launched.
Three of the raccoons have been euthanized on account of lesions, wounds or unusual conduct, Rooney mentioned. Three others have been transferred to the Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, the place one died, one was euthanized and one other stays within the nursery.
Of the practically 200 roadkill specimens examined to this point, Rooney mentioned, none has examined optimistic for rabies.
Rooney mentioned the trapping possible is to proceed a number of extra days, and that oral vaccine bait will probably be laid out so long as by way of Nov. 15.
Monitoring lifeless and suspicious animals will proceed presumably into February, he mentioned.
First time use in Nebraska
The oral vaccine bait, which resembles a restaurant mustard packet, is designed to draw wild animals equivalent to raccoons, which eat the fishy-smelling bait and turn out to be vaccinated in opposition to rabies.
While that is the primary time oral rabies vaccine baits have been utilized in Nebraska, county well being directors mentioned that greater than 280 million doses have been safely unfold within the japanese United States.
An announcement from County Health Director Lindsay Huse mentioned the Raboral V-RG vaccine baits are secure for home dogs and cats and that people and pets can’t get rabies from contact with the bait.
A warning label on every packet advises individuals to not contact the bait and offers the rabies info line phone quantity.
The stakes are excessive to make sure rabies doesn’t unfold.
Caused by a virus that infects the central nervous system in mammals, rabies is almost all the time deadly if not handled.
Costs related to detection, prevention and management of rabies exceed $600 million yearly within the United States, based on Huse’s assertion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 90% of reported rabies instances within the nation are in wildlife.
The county advises individuals to keep away from contact with wildlife and to maintain their pets’ rabies vaccinations present.
