8-21-12: Courtesy of WKBW. As rabies in raccoons continues to spread throughout the Northeast, Western New York has become one of the front lines in the fight. The US Department of Agriculture flew planes over Erie and Niagara counties Tuesday, dropping pellets that contain vaccines for animals to eat. Dr. Gale Burstein, the Erie County Commissioner of Health, explains “what we’d like to see is that these pellets are dropped where we might find this wildlife, and then the wildlife would eat these pellets and then get immunized against rabies.” This would hopefully stop anymore animals from getting the disease and spreading it. The numbers in Erie County alone are alarming. Burstein tells Eyewitness News that 30 animals have tested positive for rabies this year. That includes 13 raccoons and 13 bats.
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