Rabies vaccination program for skunks, raccoons in effort to stop spread to Montreal

Quebec wildlife officials have launched a rabies vaccination campaign as an outbreak continues to spread south of Montreal. A captured raccoon peers through the bars of a trap in Grand Isle, Vt., Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007. (AP-Toby Talbot/ The Canadian Press)

MONTREAL — Quebec wildlife officials are trying to prevent the spread of rabies to Montreal with a vaccination campaign for raccoons and skunks.

Since the beginning of the year, Quebec has confirmed 71 cases of raccoon rabies and three cases of bat rabies mostly in the regions south and east of Montreal.

By comparison, 93 cases of raccoon rabies were confirmed throughout all of 2025.

Quebec says 25 teams are currently trapping raccoons and skunks, vaccinating them and releasing them back into the wild.

The operation is aimed at containing the spread of raccoon rabies in the Estrie and Montérégie regions to prevent the disease from reaching the province’s biggest city.

Rabies is a viral disease that is 100 per cent fatal to humans once symptoms appear.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.

Charlotte Glorieux, The Canadian Press