Vaccination Begins, Despite Rabies-Free Declaration
Despite declaring the nation to be free of rabies in April of this year, the Veterinary and Food Board has commenced vaccinations of foxes and raccoon dogs in border areas.
Baits containing the vaccine pill will be dropped from small, low-flying aircraft. The vaccination will cover a 20-to-40-kilometer zone along the Latvian border, a 50-kilometer zone along the mainland border with Russia and a 30-kilometer-wide strip along the Narva river, the agency reported.
The last case of rabies found in Estonia was in January 2011, a couple of kilometers from the Russian border and in April of 2013, the nation was declared rabies-free, as according to the World Organization for Animal Health, a country can declare itself rabies-free if no cases of the virus have been confirmed in the past two years.
The current vaccination drive, which is an semi-annual event, is precautionary, the agency said.
The vaccination will end on September 28.