Aug 6, 2019 4 min read

The federal government is targeting raccoons throughout Washington County during the next month with bait containing oral rabies vaccine, but humans need to be aware to take precautions.

Hand delivery from vehicles in the greater Washington, Meadow Lands and Canonsburg areas, plus parts of Cecil Township, which began Monday, is scheduled to finish Friday.

Aerial delivery allows baits to be distributed in remote areas that are not easily accessible to humans.

Helicopter delivery will be performed Sunday, Aug. 18, through Thursday, Aug. 22, in the McDonald area and northwest Washington County near the boundary with Allegheny County

The final phase, airplane delivery for the rest of the county, is slated for Wednesday, Aug. 28, through Thursday, Sept. 5, according to an email message from Timothy J. Linder, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services unit in Bolivar, Westmoreland County.

Residents who see bait are asked to leave it there if possible. If the bait is in a place where children or pets could come in contact with it, adults are asked to don gloves and toss it into deeper cover. Most of the baits will be consumed about five days after being distributed, according to the state Health Department.

It is not harmful to touch intact bait, but the fish oil and odor used to attract raccoons may cling to the fingers.

Punctured or otherwise damaged baits should be placed in a bag and disposed of with trash. People removing broken bait should use gloves or a shovel.

If skin comes in contact with either the bait or pink liquid vaccine, a person should immediately wash with soap and water. If contact occurs with the eye, it should be rinsed and a followup eye exam should take place. The state Department of Health has additional information at 1-877-PA HEALTH.

Although it rarely occurs, anyone who develops a blister-like rash after contact should contact the Health Department or a physician.

A Health Department fact sheet states the bait should not be harmful to pets who consume a small quantity. Eating several baits may cause vomiting or diarrhea.

It warns people to never attempt to take a bait away from a pet because the human could be bitten. It is not possible to get rabies from the vaccine, but it can cause a treatable infection.

The bait is not a substitute for rabies vaccine administered at a veterinarian’s rabies office because it is approved only for use in wildlife.

“If enough raccoons are vaccinated, the risk of the spread of rabies will be greatly reduced,” according to the Health Department, which is helping to promote the program to protect people and their pets from rabies, which, if contracted, is almost always fatal.

The Allegheny County Health Department asked people to “make a special effort to bring any food indoors that raccoons might eat and should make sure that garbage containers kept outdoors have secure lids to ensure raccoons are hungry and will eat the bait.”

It also asked residents to keep their pets on a leash, indoors or confined to their property as much as possible during the weeks of baiting and for one week following so that raccoons, not pets, consume the bait.

Efforts to curb rabies in raccoons through programs such as this one, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is part of a multi-state effort to eradicate raccoon rabies since 2003.

According to the state Health Department, there were 150 reports of rabid animals in Pennsylvania through June of this year. In Washington County, this included one cat and two raccoons. In Allegheny County, there was one rabid cat, two rabid bats and 10 rabid raccoons.