ORLEANS COUNTY – Recent reports of a rabies epidemic in Orleans County by the Newport Daily Express and an outbreak by ABC22/FOX44 are based on Vermont Health Department records showing 18 rabid racoons have been tested in the county since early June.
Animals have been tested with rabies in Barton, Orleans and Irasburg, but none in Craftsbury or Greensboro.
Caledonia County has seen no cases of rabies this year, but 14 animals were tested with it last year.
The state’s 2024 Rabies Surveillance Report, released in March, showed 66 animals in Vermont tested positive for rabies last year, almost all were wild and none were in Orleans County. That’s slightly less than double the 38 animals testing positive in 2023 and 39 in 2022. Statewide, just 12 animals tested positive for rabies in 2020, a ten-year low.
Vaccine baits were dropped from the air beginning August 1 to control the disease in a program coordinated by the Vermont Departments of Health, Fish & Wildlife with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. Baits have been dropped in May and August for the last several years.
The Vermont Health Department recommends trying to capture any animal that bites you or your pet if it can be done without getting bitten again. Wash the wound well with soap and water and contact your doctor and town health officer. If the animal is wild contact the rabies hotline at (800) 472-2437 or a game warden.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
