Wistar Institute's oral vaccine may cure raccoon rabies

Wildlife lovers may find it hard to swallow, but rabid raccoons may be a relic of the past if a recently-developed oral vaccine proves successful. The National Wildlife Federation has sought to delay the mainland trials until August when all of the preliminary tests are concluded. But Wistar spokesperson Lisa Dominici said Tuesday the research must be performed immediately since the Insititute wants to test the raccoons' ability to inherit the immunization, which can only be observed during certain reproductive cycles. "The reason why we want to do it now is because female raccoons are pregnant and lactating," Dominici said. "We'd like to show that the immunity may be passed on to the young through the mother." The Federation also opposed the project, fearing the vaccination could accidently effect other animals. Wistar spokesperson Warren Cheston said however that the vaccine will not cause negative effects on other animals. "The vaccine was tried out on 40 species over the last 6 years and there has been no report of negative effect on non-targetted species or human beings," Cheston said. "The vaccine is already being used in northeastern France and southern Belgium." The ultimate goal of the research program is to rid raccoon and other populations of rabies, Dominici said, with the research team specifically focusing on Mid-Atlantic states. "It's a very needed product," said Bobby Jones, a member of the committee which determined the research site and now supervises bait placement. "It's the only thing we have that's currently available to control rabies for wildlife." Dominici also said that this vaccine may hold benefits for humans. "Once this vaccine is licensed, we will be able to reduce the need for post-exposure treatment for human beings," Dominici said. "It would also potentially save human lives in developing countries." Dominici said the most challenging obstacle for the Institute may be in developing a standard formula for the vaccine, which must be submitted to the government to gain licensing. According to the Pennsylvania Health Department, the number of rabid animals have dropped from 702 in 1989 to 611 in 1990. Health department epidemiologist Larry Stetson, said that he hoped that the number of positive rabies cases for 1991 will continue to decrease. Stetson added that the licensing of this vaccine will further decrease the number of rabid animals in the area. "If the wildlife vaccine becomes licensed and can be used to restrict rabies for raccoons, which covers 66 percent of the Pennsylvania positive rabid animals, the number of [rabid] animals will continue to drop," Stetson said.

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