Northern Arizona University studying new strain of rabies

Arizona  10/31/09  azstarnet.com:  Arizona researchers are catching big brown bats to better understand the scope of a strain of rabies being transferred among animals that haven’t had contact with the winged creatures.

Carol Chambers, an ecology professor at Northern Arizona University (NAU), said the virus is transferring from skunk to skunk and fox to fox in the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, and the animals are getting it without coming into contact with bats.

She said NAU researchers believe the phenomenon isn’t happening anywhere else in the world.  “What we’re seeing is evolution in action, happening before our eyes,” Chambers said. 

  The phenomenon is a concern for people and pets because of a greater potential for interaction with skunks and foxes, said Krista Wenning, rabies project coordinator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

 To fight the spread of rabies, researchers and forestry students are catching big brown bats flying over ponds at dusk to discover how many are carrying the virus. At temporary forest medical stations of sorts, the researchers weigh the bats, test their saliva and take their blood.

The bats are then fitted with tiny, backpack-like transmitters and released into the woods. Through sounds emitted from the transmitters, researchers can track the bats to find out where they are roosting.                                                                    

 Other researchers are working to catch skunks and foxes to vaccinate them and release them back into the wild. They also have dropped oral rabies vaccinations from planes hoping skunks and foxes will eat them.