Call it an air attack on rabies, if you will.
In the coming weeks, the Tennessee Department of Health and U.S. Department of Agriculture will drop massive amounts of fishmeal-coated rabies vaccine all over the state from airplanes.
It’s a bid to prevent rabies from infecting raccoons, which local health advocates say spread the disease quickly and are prone to attack pets and people once infected.
“Rabies is most common in wild animals in Tennessee, and it poses a risk to humans and domestic animals that come into contact with wildlife,” said L. Rand Carpenter, assistant state public health veterinarian. “Control of raccoon rabies is vital to public health.”
PDF: Full press release on rabies vaccines
Blocks of vaccine will be dropped by air over 3,400 square miles, according to the state Department of Health. Tennessee will target its borders with Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
The heavy control effort is relatively new for Tennessee because the disease only recently has become a problem in the state, one official said.
“We didn’t have much of a problem with rabies until 2004,” said Bonnie Deakins, director of environmental health for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. “But that year we had something like 12 cases.”
The rabies vaccine drops began nine years ago, according to a news release. State officials believe it has slowed the spread of rabies here.
“We also help them by dropping the bait in suburban areas where they can’t drop it by air,” she said.
The oral rabies vaccine will be distributed Oct. 1-10 in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties. Bait distribution will take place from Oct. 7-15 in Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Polk counties.
The health department advises that bait may be dropped in areas where humans and pets are present. Consuming the bait won’t harm a pet, but consuming several baits could cause an upset stomach. Humans shouldn’t handle the bait without gloves because of the strong fish smell, officials said.
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