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New baits could be cutting number of rabid animals in St. Lawrence County

Posted 5/13/16

By CRAIG FREILICH A second kind of rabies vaccine bait could be responsible for a lower-than-expected count of rabid animals found in St. Lawrence County. Only one rabid animal has tested positive …

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New baits could be cutting number of rabid animals in St. Lawrence County

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

A second kind of rabies vaccine bait could be responsible for a lower-than-expected count of rabid animals found in St. Lawrence County.

Only one rabid animal has tested positive for rabies in the county in 2016 when officials expect to see as many as five during the first few months of the year.

“We hope we’re seeing a decrease,” said St. Lawrence County Department of Public Health Communicable Disease Coordinator Kindra Cousineau.

If there actually is a decrease this year, it could be due to the use of two different air-dropped and hand-distributed rabies vaccine baits in the last couple of years rather than just one.

“We’ve also done a lot of education” with pamphlets and information sheets about steps people can take to prevent human exposure to rabid animals, said Cousineau, along with maintaining a schedule of clinics offering rabies shots for pets.

The one rabid animal confirmed this year was a raccoon suspected of being rabid that was found and killed Jan. 8 in the Town of Gouverneur. The county Public Health Department was notified March 3 that a test of the animal came back from Albany with a positive result for rabies.

Cousineau said a more typical rate would be as many as five animals testing positive for rabies from January through May.

Each year the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services coordinates airborne drops of baits with rabies vaccine intended mainly for raccoons, skunks and foxes to inoculate them against the rabies virus in an attempt to cut one link in the chain to possible exposure to humans and their pets.

Until a couple of years ago, Cousineau said, the service was dropping into St. Lawrence County woods and fields just one kind of vaccine, Raboral VRG, but in 2013 a second kind was added, ONRAB, to see if they could increase the effectiveness of the program. It could be some time before they have data firm enough to conclude that it’s working better, but the plan for now is to continue the dual drop.

In the meantime the public health department is continuing its program of clinics for pets to get immunized.

Pet clinics this month are:

• May 18; 6-8 p.m.; Ogdensburg fire hall

• May 19; 6-8 p.m.; Tri-town Arena, Brasher

• May 19; 6-8 p.m.; Potsdam town barn

• May 19; 6-8 p.m.; Gouverneur town barn

• May 25; 6-7:30 p.m.; Hammond town barn.

Dogs and cats must be at least three months old to be vaccinated. Pregnant dogs and cats cannot be vaccinated.

Animals must be in a collar with a leash at the clinics. Cats must be in an animal carrier or pillowcase. All animals must be under the control of an adult.

The list of clinics for the rest of the year can be found at http://www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/Departments/PublicHealth/.