An area 30 by 50 km was selected for destruction of vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus). The area was located in the path of an advancing epizootic of vampire bat-borne bovine rabies which had been moving southward at the average rate of 40 km per year for 14 years. The bats were exterminated in their roosts in water wells with cyanide gas, and the wells were sealed with wire mesh frames. The epizootic did not pass through the control area, but did pass it by to the west. It is concluded that strategic elimination of vampire bats may be used for control of bovine rabies when vampires are the sole vector.
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