SALEM — Health Commissioner Kayla Crowl reminded residents of upcoming wildlife vaccination baiting.

During the board of health’s August meeting Crowl said that fall baiting by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for its oral rabies vaccination program in the area had begun on Aug. 17, and was expected to be completed by Sept. 16 in Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbian, Geauga, Harrison, Jefferson, Lake, Mahoning, Portage and Trumbull counties. The annual program will distribute polyvinyl chloride (PVC) blister packs encased in a waxy green coating made of vegetable fats, wax, and a sugar-vanilla extract in an effort to deliver the ONRAB oral rabies vaccine to raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes in Eastern Ohio by ground, helicopters, and planes.

Crowl said that should residents find baits they should be left where they are unless they are found in a location frequented by children or pets, and if so, should either be relocated to a less accessible area or placed in a sealed bag and discarded with household trash. While the ONRAB vaccine has been used in Canada since 2006 and in field trials in the United States since 2011 with no documented adverse human effects and there is no exposure risk when handling an intact bait, if anyone finds any baits they should be handled with gloves or a paper towel as a precaution. Hands and any exposed skin should also be washed thoroughly with soap and water after handling a bait, especially if the blister pack has been punctured and the liquid vaccine is visible.

While most people will have pre-existing immunity to adenovirus type five, which is used as the vaccine vector, those who are immunocompromised or pregnant are at higher risk of mild illness. Anyone whose skin, eyes, or mucous membranes are exposed to the liquid vaccine should seek medical attention if they experience any rash, fever, sore throat, headache, conjunctivitis, vomiting or diarrhea within 21 days of the exposure.

Crowl also said that people should not attempt to remove baits from an animal’s mouth, and that ingesting a vaccine is not harmful to pets. However, pets that consume multiple baits may develop self-limiting vomiting and diarrhea from the exterior sachets and the coating of the vaccine.