Helicopters To Drop Oral Rabies Vaccines Over Cape For Raccoons

BARNSTABLE, MA — Helicopters will drop oral rabies vaccine packets over Cape Cod for the first time in more than a decade, to help prevent the spread of the virus for the regions wildlife, especially raccoons.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said they'll drop the vaccine baits, beginning Tuesday, over Barnstable, Falmouth, Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, Harwich, Chatham and Orleans. Aerial distribution, weather permitting, should take about four days, according to Brian Bjorklund, a wildlife rabies biologist with the Department of Agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture took a more aggressive approach to preventing the spread of rabies, following a raccoon testing positive for the virus in Hyannis last month.

"It's a very large area. We’ve never baited this large of an area before,"Bjorklund said in a media briefing Thursday.

About 69,900 vaccine baits will be distributed across the cape. Barnstable County officials said 57,000 of them will be dropped from helicopters, while 12,900 will be thrown from vehicles on the ground. Ground operations are expected to take about two weeks.

County officials said people and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the baits, but they should leave the baits undisturbed if they see them. Anyone who touches a bait should immediately rinse with warm water and soap and call the Massachusetts Department of Health at 617-983-6800.

Although the baits are not toxic to pets, they can cause an upset stomach if ingested.