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Grant County eyes solutions for rabiesSILVER CITY, N.M. (AP)--State and federal representatives have told Grant County officials that initially, there will be a fairly large number of rabies cases from a strain new to New Mexico, but that the number should taper off. Officials from the state Department of Game and Fish, state Health Department, U.S. Wildlife Services, the U.S. Forest Service and others met April 8 in Grant County to look at the spread of rabies in the southwestern New Mexico county, particularly among foxes. A Silver City woman was bitten by a fox April 3 outside her home. The animal was captured and tested positive for rabies. A woman bitten by a fox March 18 on the Catwalk National Scenic Trail near Glenwood received rabies treatment as a precaution after the animal couldn't be found. A fox bit a Silver City man March 4 outside his home. The best way to fight rabies is to vaccinate pets, said Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian for the Department of Health. An oral vaccine being used in Texas and other states to fight rabies in foxes and coyotes is expensive, Ettestad said. It would cost more than $1.2 million to protect just Grant County, given the $1.50 cost per vaccine and the estimated 800,000 vaccines needed to cover the county's 4,000-plus square miles. Even with the vaccine, there still would be rabies cases in the county, he said. Rabies generally comes in cycles, with high years followed by years in which the virus seems to disappear, Ettestad said. "The real issue is getting people to vaccinate their pets," he said. A Silver City veterinarian, John Wenzel, said many people refuse to vaccinate pets and livestock, but he urged ranchers and horse owners to vaccinate their animals. "It is not a money issue," he said. "Some people just are not going to do it." Officials suggested door-to-door checks and an ordinance requiring vaccinations at least every three years. Thirty-two people died of rabies in the United States between 1990 and 2000, including six who caught the disease outside the country, said Alan May of Wildlife Services. Two dozen of the cases stemmed from bat rabies.
Date: 5/1/08
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