Raccoon Baits Fight Rabies

Allegheny County Health Department workers will attempt to reduce and eliminate rabies from county raccoons for the next two weeks. “Rabies Control Teams” will drive marked vehicles to all 130 municipalities to lay down 190,000 one-inch compressed blocks of fishmeal, laced with a rabies vaccine.

Health Department spokesman Dave Zazac says to keep an eye on your pets for the next two weeks – the bait is not harmful to them, but they were intended for the raccoons’ consumption. He says to be careful when handling the blocks; use gloves or a paper towel to pick them up and place them in an area likely to house raccoons. Zazac says problems issuing from the bait will be rare, but if you find a rash caused by contact with the blocks, you should contact your family doctor.

Zazac says over eight years of baiting, the reported cases of raccoon rabies have dropped from 23 to only 2.