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Ontario’s Wildlife Rabies Control Program
Beverly StevensonWildlife Research and Monitoring Section
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Fox Strain Rabies
1958 Rabies firmly established in foxes and skunks in southern Ontario
1947 Baker Lake
1948 Cambridge Bay
1951 Fort Smith
1946 Baffin Island
1950 Baffin Is. N QC
1954 N QC N ON
1956 S ON
Dispersion of ‘Arctic’ Variant rabies into southern Canada
1953
1955
1953
1953
1954 19611966
1961
1945
= 1 Rabid Fox
Southern Ontario Rabies Enzootic 1957 - 1987
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1989
1995
Rabies Cases
2006
Raccoon Strain Rabies
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Raccoon RabiesSpread
(1984‐2007)
2004-2007
1999-2003
1994-1998
1990-1993
1985-1989
1977-1984
1973-1976
1968-1972
1963-1967
1958-1962
1953-1957
The danger for Ontario
Raccoons in Ontario
• Raccoons are one of the mostsuccessful furbearers in N.A.
• High affinity for human habitat
• Some cities >100 raccoons/km2
• Ontario population ~ 1 million
• PEP is over $2,000
How to protect Ontario?
• Create proactive strategies• Build protective barriers to the
spread • Have an emergency response
plan if the disease does enter Ontario
• Restrict the movement of RVS species
• More research
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Trap‐Vaccinate‐Release
1) Animals lived trapped 2) Vaccinated for rabies
3) Ear tagged 4) Released at capture site
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Ottawa
Cornwall
Prescott
Kingston ±0 25 5012.5 Kilometers
Legend
Raccoon rabies cases
Raccoon
Skunk
Eastern Ontario
New York StateSt. L
awren
ce R
iver
Wolfe Island
First Case – July 1999
8
39 48
16 16
41 0 0 0 0
0
10
20
30
40
50
1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
Year
Raccoon Rabies Strain CasesRaccoon Strain Cases in Ontario
• After six years of control efforts, the last known case of raccoon strain rabies in Ontario was in 2005 (until December 2015…)
• All together, Ontario had 132 cases between 1999-2005
• Ontario was considered raccoon strain rabies free
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Fast forward to December 2015… Dec 4th, 2015
Translocation Dec 7th
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Dec 8th Dec 9th
Dec 11th
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• Rapid response baiting took place in December 2015
• Baited by airplane, helicopter and hand
• Over 220,000 baits were distributed between Dec 7 and Dec 23
The picture can't be displayed.
ONRAB oral rabies vaccine• Very good vaccination results for all 3 major vector species• First ever field trial in August/September 2006• Delivered in a smaller bait (Ultra‐light)• Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, New York, West Virginia, Ohio
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Where are we now?
• 203 raccoon rabies strain confirmations• Hamilton 173, Haldimand 16, Brant 8, Niagara 6• 141 raccoon, 60 skunk, 1 cat, 1 fox• Over 4,000 animals tested for rabies
• 220k baits in Dec, 630k baits in spring• Over 1.5M baits distributed so far this year• Total 1.7M baits to be distributed in 2016• Several ongoing research projects
Current Positives
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Surveillance
• Importance of partners for sample collection and testing (Health Units, OMAFRA, CFIA, animal control services, OSPCA, local contacts all important)
E. Ont Fall Aerial Baiting
Aug 28, 2016
19,650 baits distributed by fixed wing aircraft
S. Ont Fall Aerial Baiting Urban Ground Baiting
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Negative brain touch impression
Positive reaction (detection of rabies virus nucleoprotein)
DRIT diagnosis Confirmation testing at CFIA
• FAT test (Florescence Antibody Test), by CFIA in Nepean Ontario
Future plans
• Monitoring• Vaccination campaigns• Assessment/research• Adaptation
• 3-5 year process
Urban Bait Distribution
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Rural Bait Distribution Differences
Hamilton 2015‐?• High intensity• Urban• Raccoons and skunks• ONRAB• High surveillance
Brockville 1999‐2005• Low intensity • Rural• Raccoons• TVR and PIC• Low surveillance
Raccoons98%
Skunks2%
1999‐2005
Raccoons69%
Skunks31%
2015‐2016
Hamilton• 1283 animals tested• 173 positives• 85% of all cases
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
December January February March April May June July August Septembe
• 31% of positive animals ‐“Found Dead”
• 10% of positive animals ‐“Roadkill”
• 46% of positive animals ‐“Strange Behaviour or Sick” animals
• 14% of all animals tested are positive
Average 53 people/km2
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Average 339 people/km2
Questions?