New Brunswick is expanding its rabies control program along the U.S. border in response to an increasing number of rabies cases in neighboring Maine.

Health Minister Mike Murphy said Tuesday the province will more than double funding for the program this year to $560,000.

Starting Monday, the province's oral rabies vaccination program will be expanded along the border area stretching from St. Stephen to Woodstock. Previously, the initiative was carried out only along the border from St. Stephen to McAdam.

The program involves distributing bait containing a rabies vaccine. The bait will be distributed by foot, and in rural areas, by low-flying planes.

"For the past eight years, the wildlife rabies control program has successfully trapped and vaccinated wild animals, creating a buffer zone against rabies," Murphy said in a release. "However, in response to the number of rabies cases in Maine, we are expanding the program in terms of the area covered and the number of animals we expect to vaccinate."

Jacqueline Badcock, an animal diseases consultant with the Health Department, said the previous program worked extremely well. There have been no rabies cases among animals in New Brunswick since 2002. Still, the annual resurgence in Maine means extra precaution must be taken, she said.

"With the northward spread in Maine, there is an opportunity for raccoon rabies to cross over the border and enter New Brunswick," she said.

According to the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory's Web site, 40 rabies cases have been reported in the state from Jan. 1 through Monday. Most of the cases are associated with raccoons and skunks.