Vermont and USDA deploy 900,000 rabies vaccine baits across 10 counties
Updated
Updated · Vermont Public · Apr 29
Vermont and USDA deploy 900,000 rabies vaccine baits across 10 counties
12 articles · Updated · Vermont Public · Apr 29
Early in May, low-flying aircraft will drop the oral vaccine in rural areas, while workers place blister-pack baits by hand in denser communities.
Officials say raccoons and skunks are the main targets as Vermont recorded 66 rabid animals in both 2024 and 2025, with 16 cases so far this year, concentrated in Orleans County.
The extra spring campaign, run with the USDA since the 1990s along the eastern seaboard, is Vermont's fourth straight supplemental bait drop before its regular statewide August effort.
As Vermont doubles its rabies bait drop, will this finally curb the rising infection tide or just push the problem elsewhere?
Could mass-vaccinating wildlife create unintended consequences, like altering animal behavior or driving viral evolution?