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It's that time of year again! Nearly 1,400 oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits will be distributed in Morgantown on Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 12 and 13) by Monongalia County Health Department sanitarians.
Additional baits will be dropped from airplanes around rural areas in Monongalia County in mid-to-late August, as Monongalia County Health Department and the USDA continue efforts to reduce rabies incidents.
ORV baits are dropped and distributed so that wildlife, including raccoons, will eat them and be inoculated against rabies, a deadly viral disease that infects mammals.
The United States Department of Agriculture drops ORV baits from fixed-wing aircraft in zones across the East Coast, including Monongalia County.
"We distribute the baits in conjunction with the USDA to make sure we keep that line of rabies from spreading out west," said Jennifer Costolo-Michael, MCHD Environmental Health program manager.
Areas of focus for the sanitarians will be along the rail-trail and in Krepps, Marilla and White parks, as well as the grassy areas around the WVU Coliseum. A total of around 8 million ORV baits will be distributed in 16 states, Costolo-Michael said.
This process has become very popular in the past several years. It was reintroduced into the area in 2019, when Monongalia County reported 20 rabies cases.
The USDA creates new grids each year to target, and in 2019, the line had moved west of most of Monongalia County.
But when the rabies cases started ticking up early that year, MCHD officials met with the USDA Animal Plant and Inspection Service (APHIS) staffers based in Elkins to ask for help. Not only was the line moved back east, but baits were also given to MCHD sanitarians to distribute by hand.
"This has really been a game changer for rabies cases in Monongalia County," Costolo-Michael said. "Since this started taking place, we might see one or two a year. This year, we have no reported rabies cases."
The program has become so popular that when a rabies case does occur, MCHD sometimes receives personal requests to have baits dropped in a specific neighborhood or yard.
However, "We have to follow the timing and the grids that are set forth by the USDA," Costolo-Michael said. "We always get the baits in mid-to-late August and we follow specific maps that we are given."
Monongalia County Health Department also works to get the word out for individuals who might find the baits while out, especially if they are with their pets.
"These baits won't harm dogs, but it could cause an upset stomach if your pup gobbles up a lot of them," Costolo-Michael said.
For dog walkers and other individuals who find baits, don gloves if you can and move them off of the path and into a more grassy or wooded area where raccoons and other wildlife will find them.
According to Chelsea Hartley, rabies technician with USDA APHIS, baits will be dropped by helicopter along the Ohio River and Northern Panhandle from Aug. 13-18. Then, more baits will be dropped from airplanes in other rural areas of West Virginia from Aug. 25 to Sept. 4.
"All of these dates are approximate and dependent on weather and other variables," Hartley said.
No other West Virginia health departments hand distribute baits around their areas, with other baiting operations being conducted by APHIS staff, Hartley added.
Rabies attacks the brain and nervous system, ultimately causing death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). Mammals, including people, can be infected via the saliva of a rabid animal through a bite or a scratch.
As the disease progresses, symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation (an increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing and fear of water. Death usually occurs within days of the onset of these symptoms.
In West Virginia, state code requires dogs, cats and ferrets to be up to date on rabies vaccines.
The baits seem to be pretty popular with wildlife, as they are consumed promptly.
"They are usually eaten within four days and will be gone in a week," Costolo-Michael said. "The wildlife will eat them up."
Email Mary Wade Burnside, the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department, at MaryWade.Burnside@wv.gov.