Veterinarians managed to eliminate rabies in forest animals in Warmia and Mazury. Last year – for the first time in years – not a single case of this disease was recorded.
As Adam Wojtaszek from the Provincial Veterinary Inspectorate in Olsztyn told PAP, rabies in the region disappear before the eyes. According to veterinarians, this state of affairs is the result of vaccinations against rabies carried out in the region of forest animals since 2002.
These vaccinations involve dropping food cubes from airplanes that contain the rabies vaccine. The vaccine is designed in such a way that it is taken by foxes and sometimes raccoon dogs. But it is foxes in Poland that are the reservoir of the rabies virus – said Wojtaszek. The doctor stipulated that – although the last case of rabies in Warmia and Mazury was recorded in May 2008 – doctors will not stop vaccinating wild animals. Little foxes that are born should also be vaccinated, because immunity to this virus is not acquired – explained the veterinarian.
Wojtaszek admitted that veterinarians are amazed that they managed to eliminate the disease in such a short time. He added that – despite such good results – there will still be, inter alia, fox research, because it is possible that the so-called the reflection and the animals will get sick. It cannot be ruled out that sick foxes will pass from Our Country, where similar vaccinations are not carried out. (PAP)