Almost a decade after rabies was first detected in Massachusetts, the virus has spread from raccoons to skunks, foxes, and coyotes and has hit nearly every county in the state. But a vaccination program initiated by Tufts' School of Veterinary Medicine has kept the disease off the Cape Cod peninsula.
Raccoon-strain rabies first appeared in Massachusetts in September of 1992. Since then, 3,200 wild and domestic animals have tested positive for the disease and recent tests by the Massachusetts Department of Health found rabies in five out of nine raccoons. In 1993, the veterinary school, with state funds, began a program to combat the spread of rabies on Cape Cod.
"After eight years of operation, the program has been completely successful at preventing the spread of raccoon rabies to Cape Cod and reducing raccoon rabies in particular towns," program director Dr. Alison Robbins said.
The program places fishmeal baits that conceal packets of liquid rabies vaccine. When an animal bites into the bait, it receives a large vaccine dose. In the test zone, Tufts scientists have reduced rabies and maintained a vaccination rate of 60 percent of raccoons, according to Robbins. The program vaccinates other wild animals, as well, including foxes and coyotes.
MA state Senator Therese Murray, who represents constituencies on Cape Cod, described the initiative as "the most successful rabies vaccination program in the nation." It has spurred test programs in Texas, Florida, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and in countries including Canada, France, and Belgium.
In Massachusetts last week, a team led by veterinarians from Tufts' veterinary school distributed over 72,500 fresh baits laced with rabies vaccine by car and helicopter around towns across Cape Cod. In its eight years of operation, the program has placed 320,000 bait cakes around Cape Cod.
Before the most recent drop, the vet school decided to reduce bait distribution from twice a year to annually and expand the vaccination zone by 30 percent, to nearly 300 square miles.
"Now after working with the same budget for almost six years, because bait is cheaper we are planning to add 100 square miles to our program," Robbins said. "Our results show that we can improve the program's efficacy by expanding the vaccination zone and changing the frequency of bait distribution."
In the future, it is possible that the program could be implemented in a metropolitan area such as Boston. "We could implement a state-wide program with state funding," Robbins said.
According to The Boston Herald, the state Department of Public Health plans to add parts of Kingston, Mattapoisett, Middleboro, Plympton, Rochester, and all of Marion to the program this fall. Later in the year, the program will begin to trap animals to test them for the virus.
Rabies in raccoons began in the South and worked its way up the eastern seaboard until it arrived in Massachusetts, according to Melissa Cumming, a representative of the Department of Health.
Although many associate the disease with dogs, since rabies is spread through saliva, the disease is also common among scavengers like skunks, foxes, and raccoons. Rabies is fatal if untreated, but a six-shot vaccine, if administered promptly after an attack, can stop the spread of the virus.
Cumming said the Department of Health hopes to continue its "support role" in the Tufts program.
According to The Sun Chronicle, a daily paper published in Attleboro, MA, Tufts officials have approached other towns asking for support to expand the vaccination program. It has also solicited funding from private organizations to avoid using tax money.
But editors at the paper called for a more aggressive, state-funded expansion of the program to include all of Massachusetts. "The fairest way to conduct this program is for all towns to get the state-funded protection that has been given to Cape Cod," the newspaper's editors wrote in an Oct. 2 editorial.
"Our legislators should be looking into expanding the program state-wide and instructing the administration to discuss similar programs with our neighboring states... It would seem to hold promise for wiping out rabies in a way similar to the elimination of smallpox and polio through universal vaccination programs."
