Rabies vaccines for foxes and wolves

[mediedpres at aol.com]

G.Graham at ctpm.uq.edu.au (Glenn Graham):

>I am searching for information on vaccination of foxes and wolf against 
>rabies.  I understand that baits are set for foxes and wolves to 
>vaccinate oraly.  I would be interested in getting information on how 
>this is achieved, what type of vaccine is used and how effective is 
>this strategy for vaccination of wild animal species.

In the book Microbe Hunters: Then and Now, M. M Kaplan writes:

"Oral immunization of foxes started in 1978 in Europe, with small-scale
tests dominating until 1985.  Within this period, about 1.6 million baits
were distributed in Switzerland, Germany, and Italy.  Since then, a total
of 17 countries, including Russia, Estonia and Belarus, have perticipated,
and the land areas for fox vaccination have increased enormously. 
Currently, nearly 15 million vaccine baits are distributed annually by
airplanes or hunters.  Since 1978, 73.7 million baits were produced
overall and spread over an area of 4.9 million kilometers...."

References:

Teulieres L (1993).  New trends in rabies vaccines.  In:  Proceedings of
the Symposium on Rabies Control in Asia, Jakarta, Indonesia, 27-30 April
1193.  Lyon: Foundation Marcel Merieux.

Steele JH, Fernandez PJ (1991).  History of rabies and global aspects. 
In:  Baer G, ed.  The natural history of rabies.  Ed. 2  Boston: CRC Press
1-24.

Also, Dr. Kaplan is with the WHO and I would suspect that they have a
wealth of information on this topic.  Best of luck.

Bill