Rabies Vaccine Dropped from the Sky

There are only 2-4 human rabies cases in the US each year, but annual prevention costs are more than $300 million. The Texas Department of Health is using helicopters to spread 100,000 rabies vaccines for skunks in the wilderness; other states have also conducted similar vaccination efforts. No one knows if such programs are effective or if the indiscriminate spreading of a pharmaceutical product into the environment is going to have any unforeseen consequences to wildlife or the surrounding ecosystem.