RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to prevent and eliminate the spread of rabies. Starting this week, Wildlife Services will be distributing the annual oral rabies vaccine for raccoons in Western North Carolina. This oral rabies distribution program typically takes place annually each fall but was delayed in 2024 due to Hurricane Helene.
"Rabies is a deadly but preventable disease, and this program plays a critical role in protecting both public health and animal populations across North Carolina," said Carl Williams, DVM, State Public Health Veterinarian. "By vaccinating wildlife like raccoons, we create a barrier that helps stop the spread of the virus — keeping people, pets and communities safer."
Beginning April 2, 2025, baits containing the oral rabies vaccine will be aerially distributed in the following counties: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey. Additional hand baiting will take place in Buncombe County April 3-9, weather depending.
The baits consist of a sachet, or plastic packet, containing the oral rabies vaccine. To make the baits attractive to raccoons, the packets are sprinkled with a fishmeal coating or encased inside hard fishmeal–polymer blocks about the size of a matchbox. When a raccoon bites into a bait, the vaccine packet is punctured, and the animal is exposed to the vaccine. This activates the animal’s immune system to produce antibodies that provide protection against rabies infection.
Anyone who comes in contact with the liquid vaccine should wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and call the phone number listed on the bait for further instructions and referral. While the oral rabies vaccine will not harm domestic dogs and cats, it is only approved for use in racoons and coyotes. Rabies vaccinations for your pets should be administered by a veterinarian. In North Carolina, domestic pets must be vaccinated against rabies by four months of age and routinely thereafter in accordance with state law.
In North Carolina, rabies is most commonly found in wild animals. People and their domestic animals may be exposed when they encounter infected wildlife. If you or your pet are bitten by a wild animal, please seek medical attention for a rabies risk assessment. If you are exposed to rabies, prompt administration of post exposure prophylaxis will prevent infection and disease. This disease is almost always fatal in mammals, including people, once symptoms develop. Increasing the number of vaccinated animals in the population helps establish a buffer to stop the spread of the disease to other wildlife, pets and people.
The NC Wildlife Resources Commission appreciates the assistance of the public in reporting sick or dead wild animals to the NC Wildlife Helpline at 1-866-318-2401 (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or anytime via email at HWI@ncwildlife.org.
Baiting should be completed by the end of April 2025. The USDA's Oral Rabies Vaccination program, originally implemented in the 1990s, helps prevent the raccoon rabies epizootic from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains, where raccoon rabies does not exist. The program has been successful in that regard and the vision is to gradually move the vaccine barrier east until raccoon rabies is eliminated.
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