Quebec launches raccoon rabies vaccination blitz
Wildlife teams will capture and vaccinate raccoons across 32 Montérégie municipalities starting this week to prevent spread toward Montreal.
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Quebec is deploying 25 teams across 750 square kilometres of the Montérégie to vaccinate raccoons against rabies, a bid to stop the outbreak from reaching the South Shore and Montreal Island.
The campaign runs through June 23 and targets 32 municipalities including Brossard, Longueuil, and Boucherville. Teams will capture raccoons and skunks, inject them with vaccine, and release them — a barrier strategy meant to protect densely populated areas.
Cases have been detected in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, marking the disease's spread into areas where it hasn't surfaced before. "It's not yet in the Montreal South Shore, although that's what we want to prevent," said Marianne Gagnier, Quebec Environment Ministry's rabies surveillance coordinator. The last such operation happened about 20 years ago.
This complements vaccine-bait distribution carried out earlier in the spring across 45 municipalities in Estrie and Montérégie. Residents who encounter sick or aggressive raccoons should contact local wildlife authorities.