The New Brunswick government is taking to the skies to combat rabies throughout Charlotte County in southwestern New Brunswick.
Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries spokeswoman Elaine Bell says the rabies issue has turned into a big concern.
“Rabies is a very serious disease and that’s why we encourage people to please vaccinate your pets against rabies,” she said. “Enjoy wildlife from a distance and if you do see unusual behavior from raccoons or skunks to report it.”
Bell says the Charlotte County area has seen 21 confirmed cases of the disease, 19 in raccoons and two in skunks, since May 2014.
She says exposure to the bait is not harmful to people or pets, but if exposure happens, the province recommends seeing a doctor or veterinarian as a precaution.
“They contain fat, wax, little bit of vegetable dye, a marshmallow or vanilla flavouring, and most importantly, a liquid rabies vaccine,” said Bell.
The government is spending $600,000 on the program this year.
"Oral vaccination is a cost-effective method of vaccinating a large number of wild animals over a wide-ranging area in a short period of time," a news release said.
The area being covered is all of Charlotte County, from Penfield to St. Stephen.
One hundred and seventy thousand vaccines have been distributed, with 150,000 distributed by plane and the rest by hand.
A provincial rabies committee was formed earlier this year to develop a long-term plan to deal with the spread of rabies in the Charlotte County area.
Bell says before May 2014, there had been no confirmed cases of rabies in the province in 12 years.
The Department of Natural Resources plans to finish the bait drop on Tuesday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford and the Canadian Press.
