Could Beaufort County eradicate rabies from the local raccoon population?

The discovery of a rabid raccoon last month near a shopping center off Parris Island Gateway has prompted Beaufort County Animal Services to call for beefed up vaccination efforts for the animals.

“It’s a horrible death for the raccoons, and it can be prevented,” animal services director Tallulah Trice said Wednesday.

Trice is lobbying for a new vaccination program that could reduce the spread of the disease.

There are liquid vaccines that come in a pouch — similar to a ketchup packet — coated in a waxy substance made of fish. The packets are scattered in areas where raccoons are known to live. The animals eat them, ingesting the vaccine in the process.

Because the county’s animal services are limited to domestic animals and livestock, state agencies such as the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources must take the lead on vaccination programs for wild animals, Trice said.

“We would like to assist where we can,” she said. “Since we are out in the field anyway, we feel like we are in a good position to help.”

The county — which led South Carolina in confirmed raccoon rabies cases in 2016 — currently lacks the resources to launch a vaccination program on its own, but “there are plenty of grants we can pursue” with the help of state officials, Trice said.

She said the county could serve as a proving ground for a pilot vaccination program that could be replicated around the state.

An online petition started by Trice to push for the program has more than 200 signatures.

Jay Butfiloski, DNR’s furbearer project supervisor, said eradicating rabies completely from South Carolina “is a fabulous idea.”

But, “from a state perspective, that’s probably not realistic currently,” he said.

On a local level, even if Beaufort County were to successfully rid itself of rabid racoons, it would likely only be a matter of time until a sick animal comes in from a nearby county, Butfiloski said.

Dixie Stevenson, who operates the Little Friends Wildlife Center in Beaufort — which rehabilitates injured, sick or orphaned wild animals — said she “absolutely, 100 percent” supports a broad vaccination program for raccoons.

“Out in the wild, you can hear (rabid raccoons) screaming,” she said. “They are contagious to everything around them — if there’s a fight or bite, (the deadly disease) just spreads and spreads.”

Dr. Mary Campbell of the Port Royal Veterinary Hospital said, “The vaccine has been very successful.”

Vaccination programs have “helped to really reduce the number of (rabies) cases in areas where it’s been used,” she said.

Sick raccoons spread diseases beyond their own species, making them potentially dangerous to pets and people.

Rabid raccoons “would normally be afraid of other animals,” Campbell said. “They basically want to stay out of your way, but they wouldn’t necessarily be afraid if they are sick.”

Lack of fear may cause them approach dogs or cats, so Campbell recommends feeding pets indoors if there’s a chance a rabid raccoon is lurking outside your home.

Campbell also stressed the importance of vaccinating household pets against rabies.

“Preventing (the spread of rabies) before it ever happens is critical,” she said.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Could Beaufort County eradicate rabies from the local raccoon population?."