State Health Services Airdropping Rabies Vaccine Bait for Wildlife along Border
Related Story
ZAPATA – This week, state health services is airdropping rabies vaccine in an effort to distribute to wildlife over nearly the entire border. In Texas, that’s 1,256 miles. A large target.
Small airplanes at the Zapata County Airport are going in and out, dropping baits containing the vaccine over the first region in this process.
In the 80s, an outbreak of rabies hit domestic dogs in Starr and Hidalgo counties.
“And it continued to spread northward. There were a lot of unvaccinated dogs with rabies. A lot of people got exposed, and then we also had two human deaths from this strain of rabies,” said Dr. Laura Robinson with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
In the 90s, a vaccine was developed, which led to the baits being dropped from place to immunize coyotes that could infect dogs, pets and eventually humans.
Watch the video above for the full report.
News
