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¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 La Porte Ave, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521-2154, USA
² California Department of Public Health, Veterinary Public Health Section, PO Box 997377, Sacramento, California 95899-7337, USA
³ USDA/APHIS/WS, 6929 American Parkway, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-4116, USA
⁴ USDA/APHIS/WS, 59 Chenell Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301-8548, USA
⁵ Corresponding author (email: Ray.T.Sterner{at}aphis.usda.gov).

ABSTRACT:   Skunk-variant rabies is endemic in California (United States), and the development of oral vaccines and baits to vaccinate skunks is in progress. In 2003, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) began to quantify the impacts of skunk-variant rabies and to assess the feasibility of using oral rabies vaccination (ORV) as a containment measure. The CDPH rabies case data for skunks were spatially depicted and analyzed using a geographic information system. Statewide, rabid skunks (1992–2003) primarily occurred in seven physiographic regions: Central Coast, North Coast, North Sierra, Sacramento Valley, San Francisco Bay and Delta, San Joaquin Valley, and South Sierra. Detailed analysis of rabid skunks in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and Santa Barbara (SB) counties showed that skunk rabies was endemic in the coastal plain of SLO County between 1992 and 2000, but only became epizootic in SB County during 2002. Despite the widespread distribution of striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) throughout most of California, the skunk rabies variant has not been found in Los Angeles County since 1979. Results imply that future ORV campaigns for skunk-variant rabies in the Pacific Coastal Plain could deter spread from SLO into SB County, as well as deterring the reintroduction of skunk-variant rabies into southern California.
  Key words:  California, epizootic, GIS, oral vaccination, rabies, skunks, spatiotemporal pattern, strategy, wildlife.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. A. Shwiff, R. T. Sterner, R. Hale, M. T. Jay, B. Sun, and D. Slate Benefit Cost Scenarios of Potential Oral Rabies Vaccination for Skunks in California J. Wildl. Dis., January 1, 2009; 45(1): 227 - 233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]