Rabies Control Program Funded

August 13, 2004 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this week that $5.4 million has been transferred from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to be used to control rabies in wildlife.

The oral rabies vaccination program protects agriculture and human health from the threat of rabies. A multi-state campaign to stop the westward spread of raccoon rabies has been in place for several years. By vaccinating raccoons against rabies, Wildlife Services and its state cooperators are working to immunize raccoons that serve as reservoirs of the disease and infect other wildlife, domestic animals or humans.

USDA currently works with 15 states to distribute oral rabies vaccine baits. They include: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

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