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Province runs rabies bait vaccine program in Six Nations to prevent disease spread

A rabies vaccine bait: Yellow capsule with black lettering on it. Placed on a wooden surface.
The rabies virus is found in the saliva and nervous tissue of infected mammals. It can be spread by bites that break the skin, getting saliva from an infected animal in an open cut, sore, or other wound, getting saliva from an infected animal in the mouth, nose, or eyes, or direct contact with infected brain or nervous system tissue. Photo courtesy of the MNRF website.
Andrew Dow - CJKS - Ohsweken • ON | 22-08-2022
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This past week, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) has been conducting an oral rabies vaccine bait distribution program within the Six Nations area.

Residents were advised that low flying planes carrying the vaccines could be seen in the area for the purpose of distributing the vaccines to the local wildlife. The program is focusing on researching, surveilling, controlling and eliminating rabies in southwestern Ontario and to prevent the disease from spreading.

Larissa Nituch, rabies science operations supervisor for the MNRF, spoke to CJKS about the rabies vaccine distribution. She said the program is really focused on trying to eliminate the disease from the province.

"Rabies is a fatal disease: so once an animal or person starts to shows signs of rabies it is 99.9 per cent fatal if not treated," Nituch said. "So what we really want to do with our program is work with our partners and stakeholders and communities to vaccinate animals and, hopefully, be able to eliminate raccoon and fox strain rabies from the province. By doing this, we'll be able to protect people from rabies but also protect our pets and livestock and help protect wildlife as well so that we can have a healthy ecosystem."

Raccoons and skunks are the main targets of the program that started back in 2015.

"At the beginning of the outbreak, about two thirds of the cases were in raccoons and a third were in skunks. Over the course of the outbreak that has shifted a little bit. Right now the majority of the cases are being found in skunks with a few cases in raccoons as well," Nituch said.

MNRF states that foxes and bats can also carry rabies but there have been no cases of rabid foxes that were confirmed in southwestern Ontario since 2017. There is no viable vaccine for bats at this time.

Nituch said since the beginning of this program in 2015, the ministry has distributed almost eight million oral rabies vaccine baits by air and grounds crews distributing them in areas where carriers are prevalent. They have also vaccinated over 12,000 wildlife by hand through they're trap, vaccinate and release project. Since 2016, cases of rabies in Ontario have dropped by 95 per cent.

The MNRF states that if an oral rabies vaccine bait is found, the bait should not be touched, but left for raccoons, skunks and foxes to consume. Ontario’s rabies vaccine baits have been tested to ensure they are safe for wildlife, people, and pets. However, eating a vaccine bait does not replace the regular rabies vaccination provided by a veterinarian for pets. If a pet has eaten a bait and the owner is concerned, they should contact their vet as a precaution.

Listen to the full CJKS story below:

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