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SALEM -- Wildlife rabies vaccination baiting is ongoing in Columbiana County and others across northeast Ohio.
During the Salem health board's meeting Tuesday, Health Commissioner Chelsea Clark said that baiting by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for its oral rabies vaccination program in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) had begun on Aug.7 in Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, and Trumbull counties and is slated to continue through Aug. 24. The annual program distributes 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.
"We haven't received any calls from patients or clients that have found them. They could still find them at this time though. It's to conclude by Aug. 24, so we're right in the middle of it right now," Clark said.
Clark said that the vaccines are not harmful to pets if encountered. However, pets that consume multiple baits may develop self-limiting vomiting and diarrhea from the exterior sachets and the coating of the vaccine.
Clark also said that the ONRAB vaccine, which has been used in Canada since 2006 and in field trials in the United States since 2011, has had zero documented cases of humans experiencing an adverse reaction. However, hands and any exposed skin should also be washed thoroughly with soap and water after handling a bait as a precaution, especially if the blister pack has been punctured and the liquid vaccine is visible.
According to ODH recommendations, if residents encounter an intact bait they should be leave them alone unless they are found in their "lawn, driveway, or other area where children and pets may find it." In the event an intact bait needs to be moved, ODH recommends they be tossed "into a fence row, woodlot, ditch, or other raccoon habitat area" and that gloves or a paper towel be used when picking up and handling the bait. Any damaged baits should be sealed in a bag and placed in the trash.
The health board will meet next at 2 p.m. on Sept. 16.