MCHD sanitarians will distribute ORV baits from Aug. 27-29 in Morgantown

Aug. 26, 2025

MCHD sanitarians will distribute ORV baits Aug. 27-29 in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN — More than 1,300 oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits will be distributed in Morgantown from Wednesday, Aug. 27 through Friday, Aug. 29 by Monongalia County Health Department Environmental Health sanitarians.
Additional baits will be dropped from fixed-wing aircraft by the United States Department of Agriculture around rural areas in Monongalia County in mid-September, as MCHD and the USDA continue efforts to reduce rabies incidents.
Annually, the USDA drops ORV baits in zones across the eastern United States, including Monongalia County, while MCHD Environmental Health sanitarians will drive and walk around to throw them into grassy areas of the city.
“We do it in conjunction with the USDA to make sure we keep that line of rabies from spreading out west,” said Jennifer Costolo-Michael, MCHD Environmental Health program manager.
Sanitarians will be distributing the baits in areas including along the rail-trail and in Krepps, Marilla and White parks, as well as the grassy spaces around the WVU Coliseum.
About 8 million ORV baits will be distributed in 13 states this summer and fall.
The process will change this year, as a different style of ORV baits provided by the USDA require storage in a freezer until distribution. Therefore, Costolo-Michael scheduled extra time for distribution.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of coming back to the health department to refresh the supply, so that’s the reason it’s going to be extended,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll get it done in two days but if not, we have it scheduled for another day.”
Baits previously distributed in Monongalia County were covered in a fish scent to appeal to wildlife, but the new baits for this year, ONRAB, have a sugar coating that smells like marshmallows. ONRAB baits have the appearance of a camouflage green blister pack, similar to the previously distributed baits.
“They smell better than the fish baits that we are used to but they will melt if they get hot,” Costolo-Michael said.
Advice to the public with this different style of ORV baits remains the same. Anyone who encounters baits should leave them alone unless they are in the path where children or pet dogs could find them. In that instance, the baits can be moved with gloved hands. If touched by bare hands, wash them with soap and warm water as soon as possible.
“The baits are safe if a dog eats them, but too many could make them throw up,” Costolo-Michael said.
According to information released by Jordona Kirby, field coordinator for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), ONRAB ORV baits have been used experimentally since 2011.
“In some rural habitats, data suggests that ONRAB may perform up to twice as well” as the previous baits, RABORAL V-RG, she said, noting that ONRAB has virtually eliminated rabies in areas where it has been used in West Virginia.
In addition to new baits, USDA APHIS will be employing a new strategy in the state.
“The use of ONRAB on the leading edge of the ORV zone — the western side — has essentially eliminated raccoon rabies from that region,” Kirby stated. “However, because rabies continues to encroach from enzootic areas east of the entire ORV zone, the National Rabies Management Program strategically changed the placement of the ONRAB and RABORAL V-RG ORV baiting areas in West Virginia so that ONRAB will be distributed in areas where rabies is more likely to spread from non-baited areas east of the ORV zone into baited areas.”
Enzootic is defined as “relating to or denoting a disease that regularly affects animals in a particular district or at a particular season.”
Rabies is a viral disease found only in mammals that attacks the brain and nervous system, ultimately causing death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). Mammals, including people, can be infected via the saliva of a rabid animal through a bite or a scratch.
More than 90% of rabies cases reported in the U.S. annually occur in wildlife, including raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes. Rabies in humans and pets is 100% avoidable through appropriate vaccination. In West Virginia, mammalian pets must be up to date on rabies vaccines, according to the West Virginia State Code.
Early symptoms of rabies in people are similar to other illnesses, such as fever, headache and general weakness and discomfort. As the disease progresses, more specific symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation (an increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing and fear of water. Death usually occurs within days of the onset of these symptoms. Very few human deaths from rabies occur in the U.S. due to extensive prevention efforts.
When an individual interacts with a potentially rabid animal, or with a pet that has interacted with one, it is critical for the person to seek medical care at an emergency department and, if deemed necessary, receive post-exposure prophylaxis.
The process for the pet varies depending on its level of rabies vaccination.
USDA APHIS has managed wildlife rabies in West Virginia using ORV since 2001. By 2019, the USDA had actually moved west of almost all of Monongalia County with airdropped baits. But five weeks into 2019, Monongalia County Health Department already had two positive cases of rabies in a year that ended with a total of 20. MCHD officials met with APHIS staffers based in Elkins in spring 2019 to request that the airdrop line be moved back east to cover Monongalia County and also asked for enough baits for the sanitarians to distribute them by hand.
The efforts paid off and the incidence of rabies has dropped dramatically. So far this year, there have been two confirmed positive cases in Monongalia County, both in raccoons.
The bait distribution takes place this time of year in order to wait for wildlife born in the spring to be old enough to feed on the vaccine.
Both the fishy- and marshmallow-flavored baits are popular with wildlife, as they are consumed promptly.
“They are usually eaten within four days and will be gone in a week,” Costolo-Michael said. “The wildlife eat them up.”