Vaccinated bait to be dropped by planes along N.B./Maine border

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The provincial government is taking their fight against rabies to the sky above.

Beginning Monday, the province will start a wildlife rabies vaccination program by dropping bait over parts of New Brunswick's rural wilderness from low-flying airplanes.

When raccoons and skunks consume the dropped bait they'll became vaccinated against rabies, a neurological disease which affects mammals. Left untreated, rabies can be fatal.

The bait dropping will take place along the New Brunswick/Maine border, from St. Stephen to Woodstock.

In addition to the plane, bait dropping by people on foot will continue in the more urban parts of province.

In past years, the rabies vaccination program had extended from St. Stephen to McAdam, about 85 kilometres (53 miles) south of Woodstock.

The provincial government is more than doubling its budget on the program this year to $560,000 since a greater geographical area is being covered by the program.

The area around the New Brunswick/Maine border is the focus of the vaccine program. Rabies was first found in a raccoon close to the border on the New Brunswick side in 2000. By the end of 2000, 13 rabies cases had been reported in the province. In 2001, the number had increased to 48. It was then the province introduced their very first wildlife rabies control program.

No rabies cases have been reported in New Brunswick since 2002 while rabies cases have continually been reported in Maine in the past few years.

In addition to trying to control the threat of rabies, the province is reminding pet owners to get their animals vaccinated and also to never adopt wild animals as pets.