Avoid Touching Raccoon Bait Being Distributed In Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Residents are advised to avoid touching raccoon bait that will be distributed across the county starting Monday. Also, pets should avoid coming into contact with the bait. Each bait contains a liquid form of the rabies vaccine and either resembles a ketchup packet with a light brown waxy coating or a small brown brick with a plastic packet inside. Each bait is denoted with a 1-800 phone number.

Trained county health department staff will be distributing the bait around neighborhoods and low-flying county police helicopters will drop them into less populated areas. Team members will wear shirts with health department logos and travel in marked county vehicles.

The bait helps immunize raccoons when the animal bites into the packet that contains the vaccine. It cannot cause rabies and isn't harmful to raccoons, pets or other animals. There is a low risk to humans, but people are advised to avoid handling the bait, particularly children, pregnant women, anyone with a chronic skin condition and anyone with a compromised immune system.

The department of health recommends that pet owners keep their pets confined or on a leash during the baiting and for two weeks thereafter. If your pet finds a bait, carefully remove the bait from your pet’s mouth. The Raccoon Oral Rabies Vaccination Project should be finished by the end of September.