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Suzanne Bond (301) 734-5175 USDA DISTRIBUTES ORAL RABIES VACCINE ON CAPE COD, MASS. WASHINGTON, April 27, 2009--Wildlife Services (WS), a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, will distribute oral rabies vaccine baits beginning on or about April 27 to reduce the incidence of raccoon rabies on Cape Cod, Mass., as part of ongoing cooperative rabies control efforts aimed at raccoon rabies elimination. Most sightings of rabid raccoons occur during the spring and summer when people are more likely to come into contact with wildlife. Raccoon rabies is caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system in mammals. Symptoms include unusual, aggressive or calm and “friendly” behavior, an inability to eat or drink, balance problems, circling, seizures, coma and finally death. While rabies is fatal, human exposures can be successfully treated, if treatment is sought immediately following a bite. Since 1997, WS has been working to establish a rabies-free barrier in the eastern United States where the raccoon variant of rabies is known to exist. In addition to this work in Massachusetts, WS has coordinated cooperative rabies control efforts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. For additional information concerning the raccoon oral rabies vaccine program, please visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/rabies.shtml or contact WS toll free at 1–866–4–USDA–WS (1–866–487–3297). # Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom. Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov and leave the subject blank. In the message, type
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