By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Central Park continues to experience skyrocketing reports of rabid raccoons, although the Health Department says the numbers of disease-stricken animals should start to decline as a vaccination program takes effect, a department spokesperson said.
For the last four weeks, experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been trapping, vaccinating and ear-tagging raccoons, with 162 nabbed so far, the spokesperson said.
Despite the vaccination program, reports of sick raccoons have remained high. As of March 15, the Department of Health had identified 71 rabid raccoons in Manhattan during 2010 — with 31 of those reports coming since the vaccinations started on Feb. 16.
The Department of Health enlisted the help of the USDA in response to the staggering increase in the number of rabid raccoons reported in Manhattan. This year's 71 reports dwarf numbers from previous years. In 2009 there were just 12 sick animals reported, and zero in both 2007 and 2008.
Officials said they heard reports of people illegally releasing raccoons into the park, which may have been why the outbreak started. Central Park is a protected, predator-free space, which allowed the virus to spread quickly once it was introduced there, said Sally Slavinski, assistant director of the Health Department’s zoonotic and vector-borne disease unit.
The traps were baited with food and placed in out-of-the-way locations within the park so that the general public wouldn't even notice them, Slavinki said.
Depending on the number of raccoons trapped each day, the program could continue for another four weeks, according to the Health Department spokesperson.
