WS employees take samples from an anesthetized raccoon. 

Results of tests on the tissues will reveal whether or not this 

animal ingested enough rabies vaccine to be protected.

Future

WS’ NWRC in Fort Collins, CO, is a key component 

of the National Rabies Management Program. NWRC 

scientists investigate raccoon behavior, develop 

biomarkers and alternative vaccines, and research 

vaccination rates. NWRC researchers are also working 

on better baits to use for delivery of the oral rabies 

vaccine in raccoons. NWRC personnel are performing 

field studies in five States to evaluate the effectiveness 

of these experimental baits.

In collaboration with various universities, WS scientists 

are also conducting research on raccoon and skunk 

ecology in urban and rural settings and on gray fox 

ecology in Texas. Investigators are also working to 

develop better techniques to estimate raccoon density 

and to assess the effects of density and target-population 

distribution on the placement of vaccine baits. Studies 

will soon be underway to evaluate the persistence of 

the protective rabies antibody once an animal has been 

vaccinated.

Field studies and research continue to be crucial to 

the accomplishments of the program. Success in south 

Texas with the canine variant of rabies has shown that 

elimination is possible. With the combined benefits of 

ongoing research and committed staff and cooperators, 

WS continues to reach milestones that bring the program 

closer to its ultimate rabies management goals.

Mention of companies or commercial products does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture over 

others not mentioned. USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of any product mentioned. Product names are mentioned solely 

to report factually on available data and to provide specific information.

Photo credits: The raccoon pictures on the front cover and the image 

of employees working with an anesthetized raccoon were taken by 

APHIS photographer R. Anson Eaglin. Inside the leaflet, the pictures 

of the gray fox and the coyote came from the APHIS photo collection. 

The pictures of the skunk and the raccoon are from Getty Images. WS 

employee John Forbes took all three pictures of baits. APHIS public 

affairs specialist Brienne German took the image of WS employees 

loading boxes of baits onto a plane for aerial bait-drop activities and the 

airplane picture on the cover.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

Issued June 2007 • Slightly revised April 2010 

Program Aid No. 1933

Preventing the Spread 

of Raccoon Rabies

National Rabies Management Program

Wildlife Services

Protecting People

Protecting Agriculture

Protecting Wildlife

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Wildlife

Services Protecting People | Protecting Agriculture | Protecting Wildlife

Protecting People | Protecting Agriculture | Protecting Wildlife

Determining the Effectiveness 

of the Program

After the baits have been distributed and raccoons have 

had a chance to find and consume them, WS works 

with cooperators to measure the success of every ORV 

campaign. Live traps are set throughout ORV zones with 

marshmallows, vanilla, sardines, and other attractants 

used to lure raccoons into the traps.

The traps are checked regularly and affixed with 

labels to inform the public about WS’ trap-and-release 

program. Wildlife biologists and technicians temporarily 

anesthetize every captured raccoon so that they can take 

blood samples and remove the first premolar, a small 

tooth. Once the effects of the anesthetic have worn off, 

the biologists release the captured raccoons back into 

the wild.

Next, WS sends all samples to cooperating Federal 

and State laboratories, where tests determine the 

rabies antibody level for each raccoon sample to see 

if the animal has had contact with the oral vaccine. In 

addition, WS submits all tooth samples to laboratories 

for sectioning to determine if they contain a tetracycline 

biomarker that indicates that the bait was ingested by 

the raccoon. When tetracycline is consumed, it stains 

teeth and bone.

What To Do If You Find One of Our Baits

If you come across a bait, please leave it where you 

found it. Do not attempt to remove a bait from your pet’s 

mouth; doing so may cause you to be bitten. Raboral 

V-RG is safe for more than 60 species, including 

domestic dogs and cats. The vaccine does not contain 

the live rabies virus.

If you come into contact with the pink liquid vaccine, 

wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water 

and call the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife 

Services office at 1–866–4–USDA–WS (1–866–487–

3297) for further information and referral.
Background

Raccoons are one of the most recognizable wildlife 

species. Whether you have seen raccoons on television 

or in your backyard, rummaging through a trashcan, 

they are easily identified by their black face mask and 

ringed tail. Although you might view them as cute and 

cuddly, raccoons are one of the species most often 

responsible for transmitting rabies and should be 

left alone.

Rabies is caused by a virus that affects the central 

nervous system in mammals and is almost always 

transmitted through saliva when an infected animal 

bites an uninfected animal or person. Untreated, rabies 

is always fatal; however, effective vaccines are available 

to protect people and pets.

According to the Department of Health and Human 

Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

more than 90 percent of rabies cases reported in the 

United States each year are found in wildlife. Several 

different variants of the rabies virus exist in this country. 

Each variant is spread predominantly by one wildlife 

species, but all variants are capable of infecting warmblooded mammals, including humans. Raccoons and 

skunks account for the most reported cases, but bats, 

foxes, and coyotes are also among the 

commonly infected wildlife species.

The cost of living with 

rabies in America is 

high and growing, 

exceeding $300 

million per year. 

Although rabies 

vaccinations have been 

available for domestic animals for 

many years, until recently no such 

preventive measure existed to control 

rabies in wildlife. A vaccination zone has been established stretching from Maine to Alabama to 

prevent the westward spread of the virus that causes raccoon rabies.

features of the natural landscape that can help the 

containment effort (e.g., mountain ranges and large 

bodies of water that can act as natural barriers). For 

instance, the densely forested habitats at high elevations 

of the Appalachian Mountains limit raccoon movements 

and help slow the spread of raccoon rabies virus west of 

this mountain range.

In 2006, the program shifted the Appalachian Ridge ORV 

zone 5 miles to the east, an important step toward the 

longrange goal of eliminating raccoon rabies. The goal 

is to continue shifting the zone eastward until raccoon 

rabies has been eliminated all the way to the east coast.

Raccoon movements in the Northeastern United States 

are a concern as well. Since the year 2000, cooperative 

efforts between the United States and Canada have 

maintained a zone to contain raccoon rabies within 

its present boundaries. The northeastern part of WS’ 

program includes New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, 

and Maine. Baits are distributed along the border to 

prevent the northward spread of raccoon rabies 

into Canada.

Aerial drops of ORV baits 

are the most cost-effective 

way to distribute vaccine 

in rural areas. Here, WS 

employees load baits onto 

a fixed-wing aircraft.

Wildlife Services (WS) — a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service — works to limit the spread of rabies nationwide 

as part of its mission to minimize wildlife damage to agricultural, urban, and natural 

resources. An important part of WS’ mission includes cooperating in wildlife disease-management 

efforts in order to protect public health and safety.

WS established its National Rabies Management Program in recognition of the changing scope of 

rabies. The program aims to prevent the further spread of rabies by containing the raccoon variant 

and, eventually, to eliminate terrestrial rabies in the United States through an integrated program 

involving the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of wildlife.

Pictured are some of 

the wildlife species 

that commonly spread 

rabies—coyote, fox, and 

skunk.

Distributing the Vaccine

The ORV baits, developed and manufactured by Merial 

Inc., in Athens, GA, consist of a sachet, or plastic packet, 

containing the Raboral V-RG® rabies vaccine. To make 

the baits attractive, the sachets containing vaccine are 

sprinkled with fishmeal coating or encased inside hard 

fishmeal–polymer blocks about the size of a matchbox. 

As other private companies work to develop and license 

effective vaccines, WS may integrate these baits into the 

program as well.

When a raccoon finds a bait and bites into it, the 

sachet ruptures, allowing the animal to swallow the 

vaccine. Raccoons that swallow an adequate dose of the 

vaccine develop immunity to rabies. As the proportion 

of vaccinated animals in the population increases, they 

act as a buffer to stop the spread of the disease to other 

wildlife, domestic animals, and people.

Field crews distribute the ORV baits by air or ground 

baiting. Fixed-wing aircraft are the most effective means 

for distributing large numbers of the ORV baits. Handbaiting is important for reaching urban areas, where 

there may be safety risks associated with distributing 

baits from planes, and for lessening the likelihood that 

people and domestic animals will contact the baits.

ORV Efforts

Since 1995, WS has been working cooperatively with 

local, State, and Federal governments, universities, and 

other partners to address this public health problem by 

distributing ORV baits in targeted areas. While raccoon 

vaccination is the largest of WS’ efforts, the program 

has been involved in a cooperative ORV operation 

in Texas that targets canine rabies in coyotes and a 

unique variant of the disease in gray foxes. Scientists 

at WS’ National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) are 

conducting research in Arizona to learn more about the 

use of ORV in skunks and feral dogs.

At this time, the raccoon rabies variant is found only 

in the Eastern United States. A vaccination zone has 

been established stretching from Maine to Alabama to 

prevent the westward spread of the virus that causes 

raccoon rabies.

Annually, WS and cooperators distribute about 6.5 

million baits in selected States to create a zone where 

raccoon rabies can be contained. In setting up that 

zone, WS wildlife biologists made sure to incorporate 

Fishmeal–polymer bait (left) and a coated sachet (right).