The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will distribute oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits for wildlife in parts of north Georgia during the month of April.
The USDA reports that they will work in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Health to set the baits that will attract wild animals to eat the baits and then become vaccinated against rabies.
The ORV bait distribution is part of regional management activities to prevent the westward movement of the rabies virus most commonly spread by raccoons.
ORV baits are distributed by airplanes and helicopters.
During the program, roughly 1.7-million baits will be distributed to areas in north Georgia, east Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwest Virginia.
The process generally takes place in the fall, but impacts from Hurricane Helene delayed rabies management efforts.
Low-flying airplanes will drop baits in north Georgia from around April 8 to April 14.
Counties getting the baits will be Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union, Walker, and Whitfield Counties.
Helicopter baiting will be from April 11 to April 15 and cover the communities of Dalton, Chickamauga, LaFayette, Fort Oglethorpe, Ringgold, Rock Spring, Rome, and Tunnel Hill.
Rabies is caused by a virus that infects the central nervous system of mammals and is almost always fatal if left untreated.
People are urged not to make contact with or feed wildlife and to keep their pets’ rabies vaccinations current.
Humans and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the baits but are asked to leave them undisturbed should they encounter them. If contact with baits occurs, immediately rinse the contact area with warm water and soap.
