WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-More Vt. Cows Contract Rabies
Member Center:
Vergennes, Vermont - April 8, 2009
A farm worker at the Allandra Farm in Vergennes noticed something very unusual this past February: a raccoon that wouldn't stop running.
"It was 8:30 in the morning and it was just running in and out, in and out of the barn, and he was like, what the heck is going on," said Joris DeBoer, the farm manager.
The raccoon tested positive for rabies.
Fortunately, cows in a barn next door were not infected but the incident was a wakeup call for DeBoer.
"I was definitely watching these animals everyday and watching them closely," he said.
Other nearby farms haven't been as fortunate.
Five Vermont cows have tested positive for rabies this year. That's that the highest in six years, although the overall number of cases in both wild and domestic animals is on par with the statistical average.
So far 18 animals have tested positive for rabies this year, most were raccoons and nearly half were in Addison and Chittenden Counties.
No one is sure why rabies cases in cows are on the rise.
"Maybe the vaccination protocols have laxed a bit," said Dr. Joe Klopfenstein, a veterinarian. "People haven't been vaccinating, economic strains on farmers have made them make some decisions, maybe reduce some of the vaccines they've been given."
Joris DeBoer decided to vaccinate the 250 cows in this barn after the incident with the raccoon, but held off on vaccinating the farm's other 750 animals.
To do that would have cost about $2,000.
"If the milk price was better we would have vaccinated everyone and it wouldn't have been a question, right now we're pinching pennies wherever we can," DeBoer explained.
The risk to people is minimal. In fact, no humans have ever contracted rabies by drinking milk, even raw milk.
That said, the Centers for Disease Control says people who drink raw milk from a rabid cow are at risk for rabies. So are farm workers on infected farms. So far, no humans here have contracted rabies.
"The prognosis is not at all good if a person gets rabies, so it's a health concern," said Dr. Haas, of the Vt. Agriculture Agency.
Agriculture officials are urging all farmers to vaccinate their cattle.
Keagan Harsha - WCAX News
