Moving wildlife detrimental to oral rabies vaccination project

“The ORV program in Virginia is part of a larger project that spans 14 other states,” explained Jim Parkhurst, Virginia's wildlife extension specialist based at Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources. He noted, “Raccoon rabies is the most prominent strain of rabies in Virginia.” The ORV program is designed to vaccinate raccoons living in the transition zone between areas known to have raccoon rabies and areas that currently do not.

The public health costs associated with rabies detection, prevention, and control in the United States are estimated to be between $300 – $450 million annually.

According to Martin Lowney, State Director of USDA APHIS-WS in Virginia, “Translocation of wildlife (moving animals around) is one of the most detrimental threats to the eradication of rabies.” Raccoon rabies arrived in the mid-Atlantic region during the late 1970s when raccoons infected with the disease were translocated from Florida to Shenandoah County, Virginia, and Hardy County, West Virginia. The rabies virus quickly spread up and down the East Coast from these released raccoons.

“Translocation of wildlife continues to be a major threat to the success of the ORV program,” reiterated Lowney. Translocation occurs most often by individuals or groups hoping to supplement existing wildlife populations (how the rabies virus initially was brought to Virginia) and by the capture and release of nuisance or rehabilitated wildlife.

In Virginia, regulations currently prohibit the translocation of any wildlife species to an area other than the property where it was caught as a means to protect the health of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. However, the general public sometimes views translocation of wildlife as a humane solution for trapped problem wildlife. “Relocating wildlife can spread disease by transferring infected animals to unaffected areas, thereby increasing the risk of disease for humans,” Parkhurst pointed out. In humans, rabies is almost always a fatal disease.

In addition to the spread of disease, translocation also increases stress on an animal by forcing it to find new food sources, find new shelter, avoid predators, and defend itself while crossing the territories of other animals. “In many instances, translocation leads to the death of the affected animal and promotes the spread of zoonotic diseases,” Lowney added.