USDA plans to airdrop rabies vaccines across southeast US to combat outbreaks among wild animals

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will airdrop rabies vaccines across several southeastern U.S. states this fall to combat outbreaks among wild animals.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service distributes hundreds of thousands of oral rabies vaccines annually as part of a nationwide effort to prevent the spread of the deadly virus into America’s heartland, the agency said.

Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia will receive the vaccines starting this month.

Parts of several other states, including portions of Maine, western New York, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and other areas of West Virginia began receiving the vaccines in August.

Meanwhile, parts of Massachusetts near Cape Cod have been receiving the vaccines since mid-September.

The oral rabies vaccines, known as RABORAL V-RG, are contained within a plastic sachet and coated with fishmeal attractant. The baits are safe for many animals, including pets like dogs and cats, who may accidentally consume them.

While humans and pets cannot get rabies from the baits, they are urged to avoid them.

Rabies is a fatal, but preventable, viral disease. It is spread through an infected animal’s saliva, typically through bites or scratches from an infected animal. Saliva that gets into the eyes, nose, or mouth can also infect someone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rabies primarily affects the central nervous system and can lead to severe brain disease in humans if they don’t receive treatment before the symptoms set in.

After a rabies exposure, the virus travels to the brain, where it causes symptoms. That incubation period can last anywhere from several weeks to months, according to the CDC.

The most common animals carrying rabies in the U.S. are bats, skunks, raccoons and foxes. More than 90 percent of reported cases of rabies in animals occur in wildlife, and nearly three out of four Americans live in an area where animals carry the disease.

About 100,000 Americans are vaccinated against rabies following potential exposures each year, according to the CDC.