Rabies vaccinations hope to curb disease


The Texas Department of State Health Services' annual airdrop of rabies vaccinations begins Wednesday across 41 Texas counties, including Kerr County.

Flights from five airports across Central, South and West Texas will drop more than 2.9 million baits for coyotes and foxes to stem the tide against strains of rabies carried by those species.

"The purpose has been to create and maintain zones of vaccinated coyotes in South Texas and gray fox rabies in Texas," said DSHS veterinarian Ernest Oertli, director of the program. "No human cases of rabies in either area have occurred since the airdrops began."

According to a press release, animal cases of canine rabies in South Texas has dropped from a high of 142 when the program began in 1994 to a low of zero reported cases through October 2008.

Gray fox rabies cases went from an all-time high of 265 in 1995 to eight reported cases last year.

There were three confirmed cases of rabies in Kerr County last year, according to employees at Kerr County Animal Control.

The baits, specially designed for coyotes, are made of fish meal. Gray fox baits consist of vanilla-flavored chunks made from dog-food and molasses.

"The vaccine cannot cause rabies in people or animals," Oertli said.

The baits have a two-millimeter encased rabies vaccine.

The baits are not harmful to pets if eaten, but they should not take the place of a vaccination at your local veterinarian.

"Getting pets vaccinated against rabies by a veterinarian as required by state law is still essential to preventing the spread of rabies," Oertli said.

"These baits are not harmful to pets or humans, but humans should not touch the baits because a wild animal is less likely to eat the bait if it has human scent all over it," said Emily Palmer, DSHS assistant press officer.

The baits are being dropped in the winter because predators food supplies are down in the winter and they are more likely to find and eat the baits.

The baits are marked with a DSHS toll-free number that the public can call with questions if they find baits on their property.

The 11 counties in the South Texas vaccine distribution area are: Cameron, Dimmit, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, La Salle, Maverick, Starr, Webb, Willacy, Zapata and Zavala.

The 30 counties in the West/Central Texas vaccine distribution are: Concho, Crane, Culberson, Ector, Edwards, El Paso, Irion, Jeff Davis, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Loving, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Real, Reeves, Regan, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton, Terrell, Tom Green, Upton, Ward and Winkler. To see more of the Kerrville Daily Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailytimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Kerrville Daily Times, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.


Copyright (C) 2009, Kerrville Daily Times, Texas

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