Volume 15, Number 8—August 2009
Synopsis
Tactics and Economics of Wildlife Oral Rabies Vaccination, Canada and the United States
Table 1
Major oral rabies vaccination campaigns, Canada and the United States
Country and reference | Strategy or tactic | Duration, y | Target species | Unit bait cost* | Target bait Density, no./km2 | ORV, TVR, or PIC area, km2/y† | Cost/km2‡ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | |||||||
(9) | ORV progressive elimination | >7§ | Red fox | Not reported | 18–20 | 8,850–31,460 | No estimate |
(10) | TVR | 5§ | Skunk, raccoon, red fox | >$2.00 (Can$ 1991) | 20/den fox only | 60 | $450–$1,150 (Can$ in 1991) |
(12) |
PIC |
>1§ |
Raccoon |
>$2.00 (Can$) |
70 |
225 PR, 485 TVR, 1,200 ORV |
$500
(Can$ in 1999) |
United States§ | |||||||
D. Slate, unpub. data (2007) | ORV zone (Appalachian Ridge) | >1§ | Raccoon | $1.22 (US$) | 50–75 | 28,659–84,225 | $108 (US$ in 2007) |
(26) | ORV zone (Ohio–Pennsylvania border) | 4§ | Raccoon | $1.37–$1.52 (US$) | 75 | 3,872–6,497 | $153; range $102–$262 (US$ in 1999)¶ |
(17) | ORV progressive elimination | >9§ | Coyote | Not reported | 19–27 | 38,850 | $42 (US$ in 2004)# |
(17) | ORV progressive elimination | >8§ | Gray fox | Not reported | 27–39 | 56,202 | $42 (US$ in 2004)# |
*Unless otherwise noted, costs are in Can$ or US$. No discounting for inflation was used; this article and Technical Appendix 2 provide inflation-corrected costs in 2008 Can$ or US$.
†Components of reported areas differ according to tactic and strategy. Oral rabies vaccination (ORV) entails topographic areas at which baits are distributed at target densities over landscape. Trap–vaccinate–release (TVR) involves relatively limited topographic areas of intense live trapping and parenteral vaccination of captured animals. Point infection control (PIC) involves successive concentric rings of population reduction, TVR and ORV; the concentric rings become distorted if subsequent rabid animals are caught within these rings. New concentric rings are now formed according to these occurrences. Additionally, depending on habitat or location of urban centers, ORV may be used in a larger strip to create an added ORV preventive zone.
‡Most cost estimates include purchase of baits, aircraft, fuel, and equipment but often omit accurate labor charges.
§Surveillance, TVR, PIC, or ORV bait distributions continue at present; therefore, current duration and areas baited differ from those reported. According to Foroutan et al. (26), ORV baitings continue as part of the National ORV Program (Slate et al. [22]).
¶According to Foroutan et al. (26), areas were baited twice each year. In 1997, the first baiting was conducted over a smaller area (1,780 km2), and in May 1997 (initial) and June 1999, 2 smaller emergency baitings (in response to a breach in the ORV zone) were conducted, covering <1,701 km2. Average costs include a baiting in April 1999, when several tests of bait densities (high) were conducted.
#According to Sidwa et al. (17), the area baited had shrunk over time because of progressive coyote-variant rabies elimination, but the purse string (gray fox) tactic and ORV-baited area were expanded in 2007 as the gray fox variant spread north along the Pecos River and into southern Texas. The area cost estimate was derived as the quotient of a reported $3.8 million/year program cost and average annual 33,669 km2 (dog and coyote) and 56,202 km2 (gray fox) bait zones (sum 89,871 km2) cited in Technical Appendix 2.
References
- Childs JE. Epidemiology. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, editors. Rabies. San Diego (CA): Academic Press, Inc.; 2002. p. 113–62.
- Meltzer MI, Rupprecht CE. A review of the economics of the prevention and control of rabies, part 1: global impact and rabies in humans. Pharmacoeconomics. 1998;14:366–83.
- Rabies in the Northwest Territories—parts 1, 2 and 3. The Northwest Territories Newsletter. Northwest Territories Health and Social Services, Canada. 2005;17:1–8.
- Johnston DH, Tinline RR. Rabies control in wildlife. In: Jackson AC, Wunner WH, editors. Rabies. San Diego (CA): Academic Press, Inc.; 2002. p. 446–71.
- Stőhr K, Meslin FM. Progress and setbacks in the oral vaccination of foxes against rabies in Europe. Vet Rec. 1996;139:32–5.PubMed
- Cliquet F, Aubert M. Elimination of terrestrial rabies in western European countries. Dev Biol (Basel). 2004;119:185–204.PubMed
- MacInnes CD, Smith SM, Tinline RR, Ayers NR, Bachmann P, Ball DG, Elimination of rabies from red foxes in eastern Ontario. J Wildl Dis. 2001;37:119–32.PubMed
- Rosatte RC, Power MJ, MacInnes CD, Campbell JB. Trap–vaccinate–release and oral vaccination for rabies control in urban skunks, raccoons and foxes. J Wildl Dis. 1992;28:562–71.PubMed
- Rosatte R, Donovan D, Allan M, Howes LA, Silver A, Bennett K, Emergency response to raccoon rabies introduction into Ontario. J Wildl Dis. 2001;37:265–79.PubMed
- Rosatte R, MacDonald E, Sobey K, Donovan D, Bruce L, Allan M, The elimination of raccoon rabies from Wolfe Island, Ontario: animal density and movements. J Wildl Dis. 2007;43:242–50.PubMed
- Clark KA, Neill SU, Smith JS, Wilson PJ, Whadford VW, McKrahan GW. Epizootic canine rabies transmitted by coyotes in south Texas. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1994;204:536–40.PubMed
- Fearneyhough MG, Wilson PJ, Clark KA, Smith DR, Johnston DH, Hicks BN, Results of an oral rabies vaccination program for coyotes. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1998;212:498–502.PubMed
- Nunley G. The coyote in the Edwards Plateau of Texas—an update. In: Shelton M, editor. Special issue: predation. Sheep and Goat Research Journal. 2004;19:23–8.
- United States Department of Agriculture. Animal damage control program: final environmental impact statement. Vols. 1, 2 and 3. Washington: The Department; 1994.
- Sterner RT, Smith GC. Modelling wildlife rabies: transmission, economics and conservation. Biol Conserv. 2006;131:163–79. DOI
- Slate D, Chipman RE, Rupprecht CE, Deliberto T. Oral rabies vaccination: a national perspective on program development and implementation. In: Timm RM, Schmidt RH, editors. Proceedings of the Twentieth Vertebrate Pest Conference; 2002 Mar 4–7; Reno, Nevada, USA; 2002. pp. 232–40.
- Uhaa IJ, Data VM, Sorhage FE, Beckley JW, Roscoe DE, Gorsky RD, Benefits and costs of using an orally absorbed vaccine to control rabies in raccoons. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1992;201:1873–82.PubMed
- Kreindel SM, McGill M, Meltzer MI, Rupprecht CE, DeMaria A. The cost of rabies postexposure prophylaxis: one state’s experience. Public Health Rep. 1998;113:247–51.PubMed
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rabies postexposure prophylaxis—Connecticut, 1990–1994. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1996;45:232–4.PubMed
- Chang HG, Eidson M, Noonan-Toly C, Trimarchi CV, Rudd R, Wallace BJ, Public health impact of reemergence of rabies, New York. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002;8:909–13.PubMed
- Shwiff SA, Sterner RT, Jay-Russell M, Parikh S, Bellomy A, Meltzer MI, Direct and indirect costs of rabies exposure: a retrospective study in southern California (1998–2003). J Wildl Dis. 2007;43:251–7.PubMed
- Nunan CP, Tinline RR, Honig JM, Ball DG, Hausefield P, LeBer CA. Postexposure treatment and animal rabies, Ontario, 1958–2000. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002;8:217–24. DOI
- Kemere P, Liddel MK, Evangelou P, Slate D, Osmek S. Economic analysis of a large scale oral vaccination program to control raccoon rabies. In: Clark L, Hone J, Shivik JA, Watkins RA, Vercauteren KC, Yoder JK, editors. Human conflicts with wildlife: economic considerations. Fort Collins (CO): US Department of Agriculture; 2002. p. 109–15.