Rabies bait drops begin locally

NORTH LIMA, Ohio (WKBN) – Ever since rabid raccoons were discovered in this part of the country in the 1990s, state and federal experts have been working to control the spread of rabies. That effort is continuing this week using a small airport in North Lima as the local base of operations.

Crews with the U.S. Department of Agriculture wheeled boxes full of raccoon bait to a small fleet of airplanes Wednesday so they can be dropped in an area stretching from Lake Erie south to the Ohio River.

“The animal bites the bait, it punctures the blister pack and they ingest the rabies vaccine,” said Jeff Raines, with USDA Wildlife Services.

The baits are small, a little bigger than a quarter. Between now and this weekend, crews will distribute more than half a million of them in this region, in addition to the 125,000 that were spread by helicopter and automobile earlier this month.

This is the 27th year USDA wildlife experts and state officials have used the Elser Airport in North Lima as a temporary base of operations.

“We are primarily targeting raccoons, but the baits are used effectively in other species, including foxes and coyotes as well,” said Jordona Kirby, a USDA biologist.

The region is divided into sectors, and planes will travel back and forth, north and south, for two-to-three hours at a time distributing the baits before coming back and reloading for a second flight.

Crews started the month distributing baits over northeastern states. This week’s flights are covering an area as far east as I-79 in Pennsylvania and as far west as the Sebring and Ravenna areas.

“Over the course of the entire month of August, we’ll have distributed about 4.4 million baits in seven different states,” Kirby said.

Biologists say the effort, which costs about $28 million a year is succeeding in slowing the western spread of the virus.

“Ideally, we want to be out of Ohio, have Ohio be raccoon rabies variant free,” Raines said.

While organizers say they have seen success, they still have found cases of rabid raccoons — one of them found earlier this year in the Mill Creek MetroParks.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.