The Anne Arundel Health Department on Wednesday plans to distribute rabies vaccination baits by hand to raccoons throughout the county.
The goal of the 11th Annual Raccoon Oral Rabies Vaccination Project is to immunize thousands of wild raccoons against rabies.
Of the 270 total rabies cases in Maryland in 2008, 174 have been raccoons, according to data from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Anne Arundel has had three reported cases of rabid raccoons this year, the county Health Department reported.
The vaccination distribution will happen about a week after a rabid cat was found and euthanized in Baltimore City, causing health and animal control officials to warn pet owners to have their cats vaccinated.
People can be exposed to rabies through a bite or scratch or through contact of mucus membranes, such as inadvertently wiping slobber in their eyes.
Rabies in humans causes fever, headaches, confusion, tightening of the throat muscles and seizures, and is usually fatal, according to the state health department.
