Aircraft will drop rabies vaccination baits across Allegheny County in August as part of a massive effort to eventually eradicate the raccoon variant of the virus from the country.
The vaccination program is spearheaded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, which the Allegheny County Health Department partners with annually. Volunteers will distribute baits containing the vaccine from August 1 through August 30, both by hand and by air.
(image credit: U.S. Department Of Agriculture)
Raccoon rabies can be found throughout the state, and the disease is almost always fatal to both people and animals. The goal is to eventually push the westward boundary of raccoon rabies all the way to the East Coast, basically eradicating raccoon rabies from the United States.
Read more about the program and its efforts here.
Download an informational PDF here.
For general information on rabies, please visit the CDC website.