USDA set to drop oral rabies vaccines from planes in NE Mobile and Baldwin Counties

MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTY, Alabama — People in northeastern Mobile County and all of Baldwin County need to watch out for oral rabies vaccine packets that will be dropped out of helicopters, low flying planes and distributed by hand this week

The CDC says every year up to 60,000 people are affected by rabies and it often happens through pets that are infected by wildlife with the disease.

“Raccoons have an awful lot of interaction potentially with people and with pets and with other critters that are in, in around humans. And so trying to eradicate rabies is obviously a good thing,” Grant Brown, with the City of Gulf Shores, said.

That’s why the US Department of Agriculture has been working since 1995 to vaccinate wild animals against rabies and this week they will be dropping about 227,000 oral rabies vaccines shaped like biscuits out of low flying planes, helicopters and by hand on the ground.

“The goal is to get these biscuits distributed into areas that raccoons inhabit wooded areas, around trash cans, the typical places that you would typically see a raccoon,” Brown said.

Here’s a map of where they’ll be dropping these ORVs.

It includes all of Baldwin County and the northeastern edge of Mobile County if you live here keep an eye on your yard this week.

If you need to move an ORV or several:

• Put gloves on or pick them up with a plastic bag
• Toss the baits into a wooded area away from where kids or pets play
• Bag and dispose of damaged baits
• Wash your hands afterward

“Apparently they smell a little bit of a fish smell which is an attractant to the raccoons,” Brown said.

But it could also attract our own pets.

If your pet eats one it’s important to know:

• A few are not harmful but eating a bunch could cause an upset stomach and you may want to see a vet.
• Don’t try to take it away from your pet, it could bite you
• Check the area for more and move them if you find them
• Avoid your pet’s saliva for 24 hours and wash skin or wounds that could have been licked.

“When you have a rabid animal, they can become dangerous. We've seen it in Fairhope, where a fox became rabid and became a nuisance. It can be a very dangerous situation,” Brown said.

If you need more information right away there are two numbers you can call the USDA rabies information line at 1-866-487-3297 and the Alabama Department of Public Health at 1-800-151-1818.