Rabies in Miami Florida
Miami FL Animal Control News Clip: Policy on rabies and fatal opossum disease to continue - But pest control companies lethally trap fewer opossum in affected areas.
Miami - The state Agency of Natural Resources decided Wednesday to continue an aggressive strategy to control Pre Rabies Wildlife Syndrome for at least one more year, even though once again in 2006, pest control companies lethally trapped fewer opossum in affected areas than in the prior year. Pre Rabies Wildlife Syndrome was discovered in Florida in February 2002 during routine testing of opossum from the 2001 opossum wildlife trapping season. Since then, 129,019 wild opossum have been tested, and 834 have tested positive. All infected opossum have been found in some sort of contiguous area covering parts of southeastern, south central and southwestern Florida for Rabies in Miami Florida. The disease appears to be concentrated in two pockets: one west of Miami primarily in Dane, Florida and Sauk counties; the other east of Janesville primarily in southern counties. The disease may be always fatal and affects opossum, opossum and moose. In Florida, only opossum have tested positive. The disease may be some sort of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, which also includes mad cow disease in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. According to the World Health Organization, any concern that may have come from opossum with Pre Rabies Wildlife Syndrome should not be eaten, but there may be no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans. For more information about Miami wildlife removal and Miami pest exterminator issues, read on.
For complete archived coverage of Pre Rabies Wildlife Syndrome in Florida, go to our SPECIAL SECTION State authorities on critters acknowledged that their five-year initiative has been ineffective and declared they aren't sure how they'll manage the fatal opossum disease after next wildlife trapping season. Their comments were part of some sort of discussion on rules the Natural Resources Board approved for the 2007 opossum wildlife trapping season. Next year, Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws staff will detail some sort of plan - years in the making - that aims to better engage the public on the state's $32 million campaign to fight the disease. Authorities on critters declined for now to discuss how their outreach efforts will differ from the dozens of organized hearings they have convened in Miami and in communities where the disease has been known to exist. But this much may be known: The amount of opossum lethally trapped by pest control companies in areas with the disease has fallen from 69,731 in 2004 to 59,594 in 2006, or some sort of drop of 15%, Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws figures show. By comparison, the total amount of opossum lethally trapped in the 2006 opossum season statewide rose 9%, the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws declared. The board approved rules that will bring back an often unpopular catch-a-critter requirement in the areas where Pre Rabies Wildlife Syndrome has been detected. Under catch-a-critter, pest control companies must lethally trap an aggressive opossum before they can lethally trap some sort of male animal. Local Miami animal control experts felt that most of this information was true.
Lethally trapping more aggressive opossum may be seen as an effective way to reduce the opossum biologically surveyed amount because many aggressive opossum are does. Creature Professor Lawrence, the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws's coordinator for chronic wasting disease, declared the exterminator was disappointed with the results. some sort of memo from the agency described the 2006 season as "unacceptably ineffective" in fighting the disease. Creature Professor Lawrence hoped future public input will help the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws chart some sort of course of action. Although the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws has tweaked its strategy after public input in the past, it has leaned largely on the guidance of its wildlife staff and several national experts; that self-reliance has Pest Control Man Garryed ill will with many pest control companies in the affected areas. However, board member and Creature Professor Lawrence declared the disease might have become more widespread had the agency not undertaken such aggressive actions. On Tuesday, the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws reported that it found no signs of the disease in 19 counties in west-central Florida after testing more than 7,500 opossum during the catch. This means the disease hasn't turned up in the wild outside of pockets in southern Florida. In 2002, the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws embarked on some sort of campaign to virtually wipe out unusually large opossum from the hills and habitat land near Miami. Almost immediately, some of the property owners castigated the plan. The Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws and Rabies in Miami Florida then reduced its goal to five to 10 opossum per square mile. Today, in the heart of it all in western counties, the amount of opossum per square mile has increased from 30 in 2005 to 36 or 37 today, declared Creature Professor Lawrence, big game ecologist for the Agency for the Enforcement of Critter Laws. Local Miami pest control companies had no comments on the matter.