HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-09-27, Page 7Rabies light touches down in Huron
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
The experts. out -smarting the
faxes are using Huron County
to get ready for raccoons.
They hope a weakness for
icing sugar, wax and
marshmallow turns the trick in
their confrontation with a new
strain of rabies that is heading
our way.
The "almost always fatal"
viral disease can be controlled
but spreads like wildfire and
costs the people of this
province tens of millions of
dollars per year to both control
and for such things as man-
datory pet vaccinations, accor-
ding to Peter Bachmann of the
rabies field unit of the Ministry
of Natural Resources.
His crew of 35 and three
Twin Otters were sitting at the
Stratford Airport early Friday
morning waiting for the clouds
to clear.
Their latest mission, since
Sept. 18 and lasting until Oct.
6, has been to continue to
bomb the various beasts with
bait, some laced with vaccine.
Foxes and skunks, the
traditional carriers of the rabies
virus, prefer cod and chicken.
Raccoons have a taste for the
sugar -marshmallow combo.
They like to chew too, hence
the wax.
There is no need for panic,
rabies is no Black Plaque, save
for infected animals.
The last person to die of
rabies in this province was in
1967 and the incidence of the
disease in animals in south-
western Ontario is only 10 per
cent of what it was in the
1980s, when this region had
one of the highest rates in the
world.
There has- only been one
recorded case of rabies in a
raccoon in Huron County in 34
years, says Dan DeWit of
Seaforth, District Veterinarian
with the Deparunent of
Agriculture. It was the Arctic
Fox strain of the virus.
What has experts in this neck
of the woods very worried is a
new strain, carried specifically
by raccoons, which abound
around here. The new strain
isn't in Ontario yet.
BOOK 'EM DANO
"Any member of the public
seeing a raccoon crossing the
New York/Ontario border
should contact authorities im-
mediately," cautions an infor-
mation bulletin from the
Ministry of Health on the Anti-
Seaforth and area pet
owners who wish to get
their animals vaccinated
against rabies can save
some money on the
procedure today (Wedne-
sday) and Saturday at
the Seaforth Veterinary
Clinic. The local anti-
rabies clinic, sponsored
by the Huron County
Health Unit and vet
clinics in the county, is
from 1 to 5 p.rn. today,
and goes from 8 a.rn. to
2 p.m. Saturday.
The cost is $10.
For further details call
the Seaforth Veterinary
Clinic at 527-1760.
Rabies Campaign in Huron
County.
Rabies, whatever the strain,
seems to come and go around
the world in natural cycles of
from five to seven years, that
experience has shown humans
have helped alter.
There have only been three
reports of rabies in Huron so
far this year, DeWit says, com-
pared to 17 last year and 86 in
1993.
Fifteen years ago when both
Huron and southwestern On-
tario had such a high incidence
of rabies, it was almost non-
existent in northern Ontario and
New York State. But that state
is where the new raccoon
rabies now rages, and stares us
in the face across the Niagara
Gorge and St. Lawrence River.
Like tomorrow, the question is
when, not if, it arrives. This
new strain surfaced in Florida
in the 1950s, Dewit says, and
rabies normally spreads at a
rate of 20 to 60 kms per year.
Fears that raccoon rabies
wood cross the border last year
weren't realized. Infected rac-
coons only got to the outskirts
of Lewiston and Lockport,
N.Y. before cold weather
halted their advance. But only
a bridge separates Lewiston
from Queenston, Ontario, near
Niagara Falls.
This province and Huron
County have developed Rac-
coon Rabies Contingency
Plans. Experts and officials in
various Ministries are at-
tempting to create a buffer
zone between the Niagara
River and Welland Canal with
a trap, vaccinate and release
program.
"Vaccination is 99.9 per cent
effective against this virus,"
TIM CUMMING PHOTO
CANDY APPLES AT CIDERFEST - Two-year-old Jeremy
Smith, with mother Brenda, enjoys a sunny afternoon at the
Van Egmond Foundation Ciderfest on Sunday.
ALBERT ST.
DENTURE CLINIC
D.R. McTaggart, D.D.
▪ Complete Dentures .
• Partial Dentures
■ Relines and Repairs
For a free consultation phone
482-1195
• 50 ALBERT ST., CLINTON
". MAY WE BE OF SERVICE...
...For Your Furnace/Oil Requirements
CALL US TODAY!
DAVE MOORE FUELS LTD.
"The Best en, a en'ou Need it Most
EXETER
235-0853
TOLL FREE
1-800-266-2931
THEDFORD
296-4858
says District Veterinarian
DeWiu.
He says customs officials
have increased surveillance but
nature will prevail and the
virus will cross the border
sooner than later, perhaps
hitch -hiking on recreational
vehicle or truck.
DeWit says, for instance, that
a nest of raccoons was recently
discovered in a transport truck
in Stratford that had just
crossed the border.
The invasion may be
inevitable, but if enough
trapped wild raccoons are
vaccinated then released the
virus itself can be stopped in
its tracks.
Many of the techniques for
vaccinating wild animal
populations were first tested
and developed here in Huron
County in the 1980s, by bom-
bing foxes and skunks with
oral vaccines to control the
Arctic strain of the disease.
That oral vaccination approach
has since been used extensively
and further refined in Eastern
Ontario.
PEANUT BUTTER?
But the beasts are still being
bombed here. The spokesman
for the crew that was grounded
at Stratford last Friday says
foxes and skunks are getting
hit with a payload that includes
an oral vaccine, but no vaccine
for the raccoons yet, they are
just bombing them with baits at
this stage, still trying to deter- .
mine what best tickles their
taste buds and how markers
move through the raccoon
populations in this neck of the
woods.
The Ontario Ministry of
Natural resources has played
with about 50 possible flavours
of raccoon bait, including
peanut butter, chicken, beef,
cod, lobster, fresh corn, canned
corn and macaroni -cheese.
City raccoons and their rural
counterparts apparently don't
always prefer the same concoc-
tions, although all appear to
have a sweet tooth and the
icing sugar/ marshmallow mix
has lots of takers.
Studies by scientists in the
Barrie area in the last two
years found about 60 per cent
of trapped raccoons snacked on
the chewy sweet. A smaller
study in the Rosedale area of
Toronto at the same time came
up with asimil_ar percentage.
A TRUE FACT
Curiously enough, there are
far more city raccoons per
square kilometre than their
rural brethren.
DeWit says there are now
four to five raccoons ppeerr
square kilometre in rural On-
tario compared to an avera4e
of 25 per square kilometre in
urban centres of the province.
Foxes are similarly denser
than one might expect in cities.
Bats are also carriers of the
rabies virus.
"Animals with rabies behave
out of character," says a
federal agriculture department
information bulletin. "They
may be abnormally tame, and
either attack or cringe. They
may startle easily, nm aim-
lessly, become watchful and
have a puzzled or apprehensive
look. They might drool a lot,
and often appear un -coor-
dinated or partially paralyzed."
DeWit says the virus exhibits
itself in "dumb" or "furious"
forms and attacks the central
nervous system of differing
species in different ways. It is
generally passed through saliva
by bites. Rabid cats, about 90
per cent of the time, are
furious. Dogs can show either
dumb or furious symptoms,
usually a 50-50 percentage
split.
He says it usually takes about
45 days from when the virus is
first detected until when it dies.
Animals can be rabid and not
show it. The virus can incubate
undetected from two weeks to
two months.
The district veterinarian
cautions those who might con-
sider adopting a raccoon as a
pet. When theyare young they
are cute, he says, but they get
even bolder if they are used to
humans when older, but main-
tain their wild natures thereby
becoming a danger and "real
threat".
Besides, adopting orphaned
raccoons as family pets is
illegal, he notes.
A St. Marys man was
charged with impaired driving
after the pickup he was driving
collided with a Mitchell school
bus near Staffa Wednesday
afternoon.
The Sebringville detachment
of the Ontario Provincial Police
says he failed to stop at a stop
sign and wasn't hurt.
Patricia Lynn Ruston, 43, had
minimal injuries and none of
the six students on board were
hurt.
Police say both vehicles had
moderate damage. The collision
occurred near the intersection
of Perth County Roads 6 and
10 at about 4:05 p.m.
• Supplier of
all makes of
plumbing fixtures
and faucets.
• Water softeners
and conditioners
• Water Heaters
FOR YOUR REPAIR OR RENOVATION
JOBS, NEW ADDITIONS OR NEW HOME
Call Jim for a FREE Estimate
345-2636
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Sopt.mber 27, 1995-7
Firewood
Hard MBWOODaple or Ash
Limited Time Offer
- CaII no -
$130./17 cu. yd. Truck Load
Delivered within 20 miles
Mileage charge Beyond That
Large Quantity Discounts When You Haul!!!
Craig Hardwoods Ltd.
Auburn, Ont.
519.526.7220
WHEN YOU BUY ONE OF EQUAL VALUE AT THE REGULAR PRICE
GARDEN MUMS
2 gal. pots
3 for $10.00
Good Assortment of Fall Bulbs
Tulip, Hyacinth, Daffodil and more.
HURON RIDGE ACRES Inc.
Follow Our Signs
1/2 mile west, then 3 1/2 miles north of Zurich or
East off Hwy. 21 South of Bayfield
at Stanley Sideroad 15, then take first right
The
HURON COUNTY HEALTH UNIT
And The County
VETERINARY CLINICS
Are offering...
For dogs and cats over 3 months of age. Please
have them on leashes or in boxes when in the clinic.
Cost: $ 0
Includes GST
''er. Animal Vaccinated
:ertiricate provided.
'or dogs.
The Following Huron County G,,aL ire Participating
Blyth Veterinary Services Kirkton Veterinary Clinic
Queen St. S., Btyth - 523-9551 19 Orange Ave., Kirkton - 229-8911
Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Brussels Veterinary Clinic
61 William St., Brussels- 887-6841
Sept 30, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Clinton Animal Hospital
RRM 5 Clinton (Hwy. 4 South of
Clinton) - 482-3558
Sept. 27, 2:00 p.m. • 5:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Exeter Animal Hospital
660 Main St., Exeter 235-2662
Sept. 27, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Goderlch Veterinary Clinic
RRM 2 Goderieh - 524-2631
Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. • 5:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 9:00 a.m. • 12:00 p.m.
(50%dinged t firmCartyHrareSoody)
Heubner-Rldder Veterinary
Hospital
376 Bayfield Rd.,Goderich - 524-8287
Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and
Sept. 30, 9:00 a.m. • 12:00 p.m.
Sept 27, 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 11:00 a.m. • 4:00 p.m.
Leedham Veterinary Clinic
11 Atfred St., Wingham - 357-2471
Sept 27, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and
Sept. 30, 9:00 a.m. • 12:00 p.m.
Seaforth Veterinary Clinic
Main St. N., Seaforth - 527-1760
Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Wingham Veterinary Clinic
Rintoul Pool Complex, Wingham -
357.1770
Sept. 27, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Zurich Veterinary Clinic
44 Main St., Zurich - 236-4301
Sept 27, 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and
Sept 30, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
r
SEAFORTH
CITIZENSHIP AWARDS
THE SEAFORTH RECREATION AND PARKS COMMITTEE IS NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR THE CITI-
ZENSHIP AWARDS FOR 1995 IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
SERVICE TO SPORTS - A person that volunteers his dr her time to sports organizations, or sports in general in
Seaforth.
CMC SERVICE - A person who belongs to a service club or community organization in which he or she con-
tributes many hours of time for the betterment of the community.
HUMANITARIAN SERVICE - A person who is considerate of mankind, and is willing to give his or her time to
help other people.
THESE AWARDS ARE CHOSEN BASED ON THE INDIVIDUAL'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COMMUNITY
IN A VOLUNTEER CAPACITY. IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE THAT FITS THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION, FILL OUT
THE FORM BELOW AND MAIL IT TO: THE SEAFORTH RECREATION AND PARKS DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX
885, SEAFORTH, ONT., NOK 1 WO. DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 20, 1995.
would like to nominate- for his/her contribution to Seaforth in (circle one)
a) Service to Sports b) Civic Service
c) Humanitarian Service
Some background information on this person is:
My reason for nominating this person is:
Signature of Nominator , -