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Oral Rabies Vaccination Program
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park » Oral Rabies Vaccination Program » Document List
The U.S. Department of Interior (USDI), National Park Service (NPS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services (APHIS-WS), the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) and other state agencies and rabies task forces, is proposing to implement an oral rabies vaccination (ORVAC) program at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site (Palo Alto) near Brownsville, TX. The program's objective is to stop the northward spread of a specific canine (Canis latrans) rabies variant or "strain" of the rabies virus. Cooperative rabies management programs targeting various wildlife species and variants of the rabies virus are already being conducted on numerous land classes in Texas as well as in 25 states in the eastern U.S. If baiting programs were conducted around large tracts of land such as NPS park units, reservoirs of the virus would likely persist, potentially making the program less effective at stopping or eliminating the advance of the different variants of the rabies virus. By participating, the NPS would aid in enhancing the effectiveness of the national rabies management program.
This Environmental Assessment (EA) documents the analysis of the potential environmental effects of a proposal to involve the U.S. Department of Interior (USDI), National Park Service (NPS) in an oral rabies vaccination (ORVAC) program at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site (Palo Alto) in south Texas. The program would involve the distribution of ORVAC baits to create zones of vaccinated target species that would then serve as barriers to further cease the advancement of the canine rabies virus variant. The proposed ORVAC program would reduce the possibility of humans and animals becoming infected with the canine variant of the rabies virus and would support the state of Texas in its effort of reducing or eliminating this strain of the virus from south Texas. No cumulative impacts are anticipated from the distribution of ORVAC into the environment.
Environmental Coordinator, Rabies Program
USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
6213 Angus Drive, Suite E
Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone (919) 786-4480 ext. 229
This Environmental Assessment (EA) documents the analysis of the potential environmental effects of a proposal to involve the U.S. Department of Interior (USDI), National Park Service (NPS) in an oral rabies vaccination (ORVAC) program at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site (Palo Alto) in south Texas. The program would involve the distribution of ORVAC baits to create zones of vaccinated target species that would then serve as barriers to further cease the advancement of the canine rabies virus variant. The proposed ORVAC program would reduce the possibility of humans and animals becoming infected with the canine variant of the rabies virus and would support the state of Texas in its effort of reducing or eliminating this strain of the virus from south Texas. No cumulative impacts are anticipated from the distribution of ORVAC into the environment.
Contact Information
Wendy AndersonEnvironmental Coordinator, Rabies Program
USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
6213 Angus Drive, Suite E
Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone (919) 786-4480 ext. 229