Wildlife. In the face of the recent increase in raccoon rabies cases in Vermont, Montenegro and Estre residents are called on to remain vigilant and report any animal suspected of being infected with the disease, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change Control, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) announced.
Cases of raccoon rabies discovered in an area not far from the Canada-US border were reported to relevant authorities last month. For MELCCFP, the situation is worrying, because many of these cases have been recorded in areas where no wild animal vaccination has taken place since 2020.
Over the past two years, more than thirty cases have been recorded in the Burlington area and the border sector, along Lake Champlain.
To reduce the risk of introducing rabies, the Ministry is currently planning wild animal vaccination operations in Montérégie and Estre.
“Due to a rabies outbreak occurring in northern Vermont in the United States, the Department is asking residents of the Haut-Richelieu and Broome Missisquois Migrant Resource Centers, especially those living along the border, to actively participate in enhanced surveillance.” Read the ministry's press release.
To report raccoons, skunks and foxes that are dead or appear disoriented, injured, abnormally aggressive or paralyzed: 1 877 3466763 or complete the online form.
