Health officials are warning parents to be on the look out for quarter-sized green packets in upstate New York this month.
More than 600,000 rabies vaccines are set to be dropped by plane from August 12 through 21 over several counties.
While officials said most packets will be consumed by animals within four days, parents are urged to be on the look out and immediately call a doctor if their child handles one.
The vaccines are not fatal to humans, but can cause skin irritations.
Health Departments in upstate New York are working with the New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services to airdrop oral rabies vaccines for wildlife.
'This oral rabies vaccine is intended for raccoons, foxes and coyotes and to give them protection against rabies infection,' Deputy Director of Environmental Health Peter Tripi said in a press release.
The oral rabies vaccine bait is housed in small green packets about the size of a quarter.
To make the bait attractive to wildlife, the packets are coated with a sweet attractant that includes vegetable-based fats, wax, icing sugar, vegetable oil, artificial marshmallow flavor, and dark-green food-grade dye.
But officials have warned that some children may think the vaccine is a treat and may attempt to eat them.
The program, which is held each year, uses a fixed-wing aircraft to drop oral rabies vaccine bait.
The targeted counties include Erie, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming, and northern Chautauqua and Cattaraugus.
On August 17, Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) vector control staff will distribute bait by hand in urban and more densely populated parts of the county, and helicopters will begin dropping bait over central and northwestern Erie County through August 21.
'This vital service distributes oral rabies vaccine in places where wildlife will eat it. When foxes, skunks, raccoons, woodchucks and other mammals eat these small green packets the size of a quarter coin, they gain protection against rabies, a virus that is 100% fatal,' ECDOH stated in the press release.
When an animal bites into the bait, it will release the vaccine into their mouth. With an adequate dose, the animal will develop immunity to rabies.
Humans and pets can't get rabies from the bait. But officials urge the public not to touch it, and to closely monitor children to make sure they don't touch or eat it.
Residents who come into contact with the bait should wash their hands immediately, and then call the New York State Department of Health Rabies Information Line at (888) 574-6656, officials say.
If you have to move a vaccine packet, officials advise wearing gloves or using a plastic bag or paper towel to pick it up. If the bait is damaged, throw it in the trash. If it's intact, toss it into a wooded area.
If your pet eats the bait, do not try to remove it from their mouth. Eating it won't harm them, though they may vomit if they consume several baits, officials say. Contact a veterinarian if your pet has consumed vaccine baits.
The ECDOH also recommends keeping pets indoors as much as possible during the vaccine airdrop to ensure that only wildlife consumes the bait.
Most of the bait are eaten within four days, and almost all of them will be gone a week after they're dropped, officials say. Any that aren't found and eaten will harmlessly dissolve and the exposed vaccine will become inactivated.
