QUÉBEC CITY, Oct. 5, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - After dropping and spreading nearly 550,000 raccoon rabies vaccine bait capsules in August and September of this year, the Québec Government will carry out a survey of vaccine coverage from October 9 to 20 next, in 28 municipalities in the Montérégie region.
The purpose of the survey is to assess the effectiveness of the raccoon rabies vaccination operation, which took place in Montérégie, the Eastern Townships and Montreal's major parks with the aim of maintaining and strengthening rabies immunization among wild raccoon, skunk and fox populations.
Details
Teams from the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP) will install cages in the natural habitats of raccoons (woodlots, watercourse banks and the edges of fields) over an area of 573 km², in order to capture live raccoons.
Blood samples will be taken from the captured raccoons to check their level of immunity against rabies. The animals will then be released in the vicinity of the capture site. It is important to note that:
Coverage Survey - 2017 | |||
Bedford |
Brigham |
Dundee |
Elgin |
Farnham |
Godmanchester |
Henryville |
Lacolle |
Mercier |
Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge |
Noyan |
Pike River |
Saint-Anicet |
Saint-Armand |
Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle |
Sainte-Martine |
Sainte-Sabine |
Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville |
Saint-Ignace-de-Stanbridge |
Saint-Isidore |
Saint-Michel |
Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix |
Saint-Rémi |
Saint-Urbain-Premier |
Saint-Valentin |
Stanbridge East |
Stanbridge Station |
Très-Saint-Sacrement |
Advice for citizens during the survey
To ensure the success of the operation and to protect themselves against raccoon rabies, citizens in the municipalities concerned are asked to follow these instructions:
Important reminders
Rabies is a deadly disease that can be spread to humans by infected animals. People can therefore contract rabies from pets that are infected by virus-carrying wild animals.
For additional information on raccoon rabies in Québec: rageduratonlaveur.gouv.qc.ca.
Source:
Nicolas Bégin
Media Relations
Direction des communications
Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs
418 627-8609, ext. 3061
SOURCE Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs