In an effort to control rabies cases in eastern states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been dropping vaccine-laden fishmeal cakes throughout Ohio and in Erie and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania.

"The cakes have been quite successful in curbing the amount of rabid raccoons in those areas," said Richard McGarvey of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The program should be taking effect as soon as August or September in Mercer County, he said.

"We have to notify local news outlets, schools, hospitals and such before we can drop the cakes," McGarvey said. "We want to keep the public aware of what they are and what they are for," he said.

Regional concern about rabies has grown since 1997 when a 3-year-old from suburban Youngstown was riding his tricycle and was bitten by a rabid raccoon.

"The USDA approached us with a new program to focus the dropping of the cakes on the borders of West Virginia and Ohio," McGarvey said.

McGarvey also noted that dropping the cakes in rural areas will be done again by plane. However, in urban areas, the cakes need to be hand-placed in bushes and wooded areas, he said.

"Rabies has been a problem in Pennsylvania since the mid-'80s," said John Krebs of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

So far this year, there has been one reported case of animal rabies in Mercer County and three in Crawford County.