The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announces a finding of no significant impact related to oral rabies vaccine (ORV) field trials in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia.
APHIS’ Wildlife Services and its cooperators will begin distributing baits on or about August 2 across rural areas by airplanes and in suburban or urban areas by helicopters, vehicles and bait stations.
While rabies remains one of the most threatening zoonotic diseases worldwide, vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of infection among pets, livestock and even wildlife.
While we think of wild animals as the primary carriers of rabies, domestic livestock including cattle are susceptible to the virus, and because of their more frequent contact with humans, can pose a risk of transmission.
When news surfaces about cattle with rabies, media outlets and the urban public might treat it as a humorous event, with images of a vicious, slobbering cow running amuck on the farm.
The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences team is working toward a vaccine that would be easier to deliver to livestock and wildlife.
