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Suncoast Pasco News

Rabies Vaccination Pellets Placed For Raccoons

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: February 11, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - County staff last week finished placing some 61,200 baits for raccoons to eat to vaccinate them against rabies to reduce the threat of the disease spreading to people and their pets.

The county has participated in the annual program for about the past seven years, according to Denise Hilton, Pasco's animal services manager.

This year, however, the state reduced the area covered in Pasco County, Hilton reports.

"We distributed baits from S.R. 52 south to the Pinellas County line and went as far east as U.S. 41," Hilton observed. "Previous years, we covered the entire county."

Last week, Pinellas County Animal Services distributed anti-rabies vaccine bait packs all around the peninsula. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Pinellas program is a test effort to eradicate the rabies virus from the Pinellas raccoon population.

Pasco Animal Services posts extensive background information about the rabies threat with a link on its Web page at http://portal.pascocountyfl.net/portal/server.pt/community/animal_services/223/home.

"The virus lives in the saliva and brain tissue of infected mammals.

Rabies is fatal once the virus reaches the brain. This means pets, livestock, wildlife and people are at risk," the advisory reads in part.

"Rabies is spread mainly through bites from infected animals. Rabies can also be passed by scratches from an infected animal or when infected saliva or brain tissue comes in contact with open wounds, skin breaks or mucous membranes.

"Rabies is carried mainly by wild animals including raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. Dogs, cats and farm animals can easily pick up rabies from wild or stray animals."

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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