Trapping could help with recent rabies scare, group says

A recent case of rabiesin St. Stephen hasspurred some New Brunswick trappers to promote their industry as a possible solution.

Trapper James Marriner says the Department of Health and Department of Natural Resourcesused to use fur trappers to combat rabies,but the program no longer exists.

"There were a number of years that trappers were brought in to trap the animals, it was live trappingand the animals were inoculated and that did slow up the spread of raccoon rabies that was coming up the eastern seaboard," said Marriner.

"That program hasn't been ongoing now for afew years and here we are," he said.

Earlier this month, the provincial governmentconfirmed a raccoon seen acting strangely in a St. Stephen backyard on May 29 had rabies. A family in the community has since started a series of inoculations because their pets had contact with the animal.

The provincial governmentdid not step in with a trapping program to ensure other animals in the area are not carrying the disease, so the town has hired a wildlife officer to do sometrapping, Mayor JohnQuartermaintold CBC's Information Morning Saint John.

Trapped animals will be sent tothe Department of Health in Fredericton for testing, hesaid.

A second raccoon tested negative for the viral disease that affects the nervous system.

Rabiesis uncommon in New Brunswick, but can be deadly.

It is most commonly spread by being bitten by an infected animal, but can also be spread when broken skin or mucous membranes come into contact with infected matter from a rabid animal, such as touching drool, or being scratched.

Jonathan Cormier, a DNR biologist,says diseases spread faster when a species is overpopulated.

As the population increases, the better chances are, that if a disease is present, that it can be passed on more quickly, and spread more quickly," he said.

Trapping even live trapping helps slowthe spread of disease, curbs overpopulationand brings money into the province, said Marriner.

Animal pelts brought in close to $1.7 millionto New Brunswick in 2012-2013, according to the Department of Natural Resources.That's up from about $1.5 million in 2011-2012.

The demand for raccoon pelts, fuelled primarily by China and Russia, doubled the value of their pelts last year to$24.70 each, up from $12.60.