Transcription
A small squad of low-flying planes buzzing over the North Georgia mountains, all of them dropping a life-saving payload. Channel 2's Baron Peterson's live at Dalton Municipal Airport in Whitfield County. Baron, it's a mission to prevent the spread of rabies.
Yeah, and it's inside of these little packets. They dropped 150,000 of these today out of those airplanes, and their targets are raccoons. A refrigerated trailer at Dalton Municipal Airport that contains a precious cargo that looks like packets of ketchup. The bait itself is highly attractive. It's got a fish coating and fish oil. It stinks. Which Jordana Kirby says is tasty if you're a raccoon. Our airplanes are flying at about 500 ft altitude.
Kirby is a field coordinator with the US Department of Agriculture. The feds and contractor Dynamic Aviation are dropping 600,000 of those little packets over the North Georgia mountains to prevent the spread of rabies. What people probably don't realize is that rabies is still very much an issue in the United States. Especially in Georgia, where raccoons are the number one carrier, and more than a thousand state residents need medical treatment every year after possible exposure.
The baits contain an oral vaccine eaten by raccoons and other critters and prevents the spread of the disease. We have been able to prevent any considerable spread of rabies that is most commonly transmitted by raccoons, and we have been able to locally eliminate it in strategic areas here in North Georgia. And next week, helicopter crews will drop the vaccine in areas that are closer to North Georgia homes. These packets. For live at Dalton, Baron Peterson, Channel 2 Action News. And we've had so many stories about rabies cases and rabid animals. Let's hope this makes a big difference. Baron, thank you.