In the last few years, the Texas Department of Health has utilized this oral rabies vaccine technology to stop the coyote rabies in southern Texas and gray fox rabies in western Texas. Oral rabies vaccines are placed in a small plastic envelope inside a bait made of animal food, which vaccinates the coyote or fox when the wild animal eats the bait and chews through the plastic containing the rabies vaccine. Veterinarians are also working on improving on the excellent rabies vaccines already available. They are trying to meet the is a need for licensed rabies vaccines to protect more types of animals, such as domestic goats, wolf-hybrids, and various exotic pet species. Education of the public, including the veterinarians ' clients, is a constant need.
Veterinarians are also work on quicker and more humane ways to diagnose rabies.
At the present time, the only way to confirm diagnosis of rabies at the present time is to do laboratory tests on the brain of a rabies suspect animal. There is a dire need for quick, simple test on the live animal suspected of being rabid. A worker loads a vaccine into wild animal bait. If it is a wild animal, such as a fox or coyote, quickly get to a protected place or climb a tree, as you may not be able to out run it. The same is true of a rabid dog or cat, and a rabid cat usually has difficulty climbing a tree.