Diseases | The Finnish Food Agency drops loose brown pieces of fish extract on the eastern border – Rabies vaccines should not be touched in the countryside

Food Agency to begin aerial distribution of rabies bait vaccines to the southeastern border on Friday. The applications continue for about a month.

The goal is to prevent the spread of rabies in wild animals to Finland.

Vaccines are distributed in two zones, i.e. between Tohmajärvi and Virolahti and along the southern coast from the eastern border to Pyhtää.

There has been no rabies in Finland since 1991.

Bait vaccines are brown pieces weighing about 30 grams that smell strongly of fish extract. Vaccines containing weakened rabies viruses are liquid in a foil capsule inside the baits.

If in the countryside you come across bait vaccines, according to the Food Agency you should not touch them. Small beasts don’t eat the baits because of the human smell that clings to them. In this case, the vaccination fails.

However, it would be a good idea to use protective gloves to move the vaccines that have fallen near the settlement to the edge of the forest or another sheltered place, so that children or dogs do not touch them.

If the vaccine solution gets on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose or eyes, the areas must be rinsed immediately with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. If the solution gets on open wounds or broken skin, the wounds must be washed with plenty of water and soap for at least 15 minutes and cleaned with 70 percent alcohol. After this, you must contact the health center.

For dogs, eating vaccine capsules may cause temporary vomiting and malaise. Any side effects must be reported to Fimea, the Pharmaceutical Safety and Development Center.

Animal rabies is a central nervous system disease caused by a virus that infects all mammals, including humans.

Indigenous rabies was last detected in Finland in 1989. Since then, two cases of rabies have been found in animals imported to Finland.