State wildlife officials are distributing rabies vaccine baits across western North Carolina by hand and by air to help protect people, pets and wildlife from the disease.
Hand distribution has already begun in the Asheville area. Helicopter drops will begin Friday around Burnsville, Mars Hill and Waynesville.
Next week, planes will begin dropping the baits in more than a dozen additional areas, including Watauga, Ashe, Avery and McDowell counties.
The program has been in place since the 1990s to prevent raccoon rabies from spreading farther west into areas where it is not currently found.
The baits are about the size of a matchbox and coated with fishmeal to attract raccoons. Each contains a small packet of oral rabies vaccine.
The baits are very unlikely to harm people, pets or other animals if they are touched or eaten, though they may have a strong fishy smell. Officials recommend leaving the packets where they land unless they fall in a yard or driveway. Anyone who comes into contact with one should wash their hands with soap and water.
The distribution follows a large rabies exposure in North Carolina this summer after several baby goats at a mobile petting zoo tested positive for the disease.
