Bypass Bats and Reduce Rabies Risk

                   
 

Bellingham, June 25, 2009 – The Whatcom County Health Department reminds people to avoid rabies by steering clear of bats.  Since bats are active from spring to early fall, chances for human-bat contact will continue until the bats enter into hibernation later in the year.

In Washington State, bats are primary carriers of the rabies virus. Rabies infection can occur when people or animals are bitten by a rabid animal or have contact with the infected animal’s saliva. The rabies virus attacks the nervous system, and once symptoms appear, the disease is nearly always fatal. Individuals exposed to a rabid animal must receive rabies vaccines and immune globulin to prevent the disease.

If you have been bitten or scratched by a bat, isolate the bat if possible, wash the wound well, and call your local doctor immediately and the Health Department at (360) 676-6724.

If you find a bat in the house, isolate the bat in a room by closing the doors and windows. It is very important that the bat be kept undamaged for testing. Call the Health Department and they will determine if anyone may have been exposed and how to proceed with testing the bat for rabies.

You should also make sure that your pets have up-to-date rabies vaccinations. Unvaccinated pets are at risk for rabies. Call animal control or a veterinarian if your pet has had contact with a bat.

Bats are very important to our environment. They control pests by eating twice their weight in insects each day. However, they are wild animals and should always be left alone. Here are some tips for avoiding them:

•    Never handle, feed or play with bats.
•    Teach children to avoid bats and to tell an adult if they have contact with a bat.
•    Keep pets away from bats and make sure your pet has a current rabies vaccination.
•    Prevent bats from entering your home by making sure that windows and doors are properly screened.

For more information, please visit www.cdc.gov or www.doh.wa.gov or contact the Whatcom County Health Department’s Disease Response & Control Division at (360) 676-6724.

The following is a Bat story of a Whatcom County family:


Our Bat Experience December 2008

My husband, 3 year old son and I, noticed a bat flying around in our house around 6:00 AM. None of the efforts to get the bat out were successful until my husband managed to hit the bat out of the air with a blanket. We quickly tossed the stunned bat out the door and into the snow, only to realize later what a terrible mistake it was.

I work at the Whatcom County Health Department and did not know much about bats.  I told my story to a few co-workers out of humor (and even showed the video I took of my husband crawling around on the ground afraid of the bat).  Later, a co-worker who does rabies investigations heard about it and said, “Please bring the bat in for testing.  The health department will send bats captured indoors to the Washington State Public Health Laboratory for rabies testing.” 

I found out you can get rabies from a bat bite if the bat is infected. We assumed we’d know if we were bitten.  Heavy sleepers and little kids do not always know if they have been bitten and bite marks can be so small you may not even know it.  Since we had no idea how long the bat had been in the house, what room it had come from, or if it had been in our sleeping area, we had to get the bat tested. If there is no bat to test, then we would have to go through an expensive and emotionally difficult series of rabies vaccinations.

We spent 2 days of searching for the bat in the snow, but we never found it.  I had just found out I was pregnant, and was nervous about the vaccine.  We had read some studies and consulted with the County Health Officer. It is safe for pregnant women, but our main concern was our 3 year old son. 

We read a story about a very similar situation where a small child in Indiana had a bat exposure but did not get the vaccines. The child died a month later of rabies. Once rabies symptoms begin the disease is almost always fatal.   We did not want to take this risk with our 3 year old; especially because we could not be 100% certain he had not been bitten. It was difficult and painful for him.  We had to go to the hospital once a week for one month. 

We really wish we had known to just keep the bat and bring it in for testing. If it tested negative, which 90% do, it would have really saved us a lot of stress and time. Now we know.

Contact: Joni Hensley    Phone:  (360) 676-6724 x50851
Disease Response & Control Supervisor    jhensley@whatcomcounty.us

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