Rabies is seen more in raccoons than any other animal in New York City.
::
Hunter is Just Three Blocks East of Central Park
February 16, 2010 – The Health Department announced today that it will start vaccinating raccoons in and around Central Park to protect them and the surrounding community from rabies. Since December, health authorities have documented more than three dozen rabies cases among raccoons in Central Park and Upper Manhattan. The vaccination effort – a collaboration involving the Health Department, the Parks Department, the Central Park Conservancy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture – is an attempt to contain the outbreak. Today, wildlife experts will start humanely trapping raccoons around Central Park, Morningside Park and Riverside Park. Each captured animal will be vaccinated and tagged for identification, then released in the same location.
The trap-vaccinate-release effort will continue for four to eight weeks, and officials will repeat it next summer to vaccinate raccoons born this spring. Traps will be placed in remote areas to keep pets and park visitors from disrupting them, and each trap will display City contact information for use in emergencies.
Rabies is seen more in raccoons than any other animal in New York City. Besides preventing transmission among raccoons, the vaccination effort will reduce the chance that a rabid raccoon bites or scratches a pet or person. Such occurrences are rare in the city, but the Health Department has documented three exposures since December – one in which a dog was bitten, one in which a person was bitten and one involving a person who tried to nurse a sick raccoon to health. The dog and both people have received post-exposure treatment, and none has become ill.