After a local woman was bitten by a rabid bat, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District (HKRP) Health Unit reminds residents to take precautions against rabies.
The health unit says the incident took place recently at the woman’s home, when a bat that had entered the dwelling bit the woman as she slept.
The woman was provided with a post-exposure vaccine for rabies and is recovering well. The bat was later captured, sent for testing, and tested positive for rabies.
“Contact with any wild animal, including bats, should be avoided if at all possible,” says Richard Ovcharovich, Environmental Health Manager with the HKPR District Health Unit. “It’s never worth the risk, especially when rabies is involved.”
Rabies is transmitted via the saliva of an infected animal through a bite, lick, or scratch. A post-exposure vaccine is available for people in the event of contact with a rabid animal. If left untreated, rabies is almost always a fatal disease caused by a virus that affects the central nervous system of warm-blooded animals, including people.
Bats in the home can be a nuisance and potential hazard to you and your family, Ovcharovich notes. Bats are also capable of transmitting rabies to humans and other animals.
Although most animal bites are readily apparent, bites inflicted by bats can be harder to notice, especially if it involves an infant, child or those with cognitive impairments.
When it comes to bats, the health unit offers these tips:
- If you suspect you may have been bitten or had contact with a bat, immediately report this to your family doctor and your local health unit.
- If you are bitten or scratched by a bat that is discovered in your home, leave the room, close the door and contact a professional pest control company or wildlife removal company. Do not touch a bat with your bare hands. If there was no human contact (bite or scratch), open a window and allow the bat to get out.
- If you have bats living on your property and want to remove them, contact a professional pest control company or wildlife removal company.
- If you discover a bat outdoors that is injured, acting strange or dead, do not touch it.
- As bats can transmit the rabies virus to pets like dogs and cats, ensure rabies vaccinations are up to date. Health units often work with area veterinarians to offer low-cost rabies vaccination clinics.
- Bat-proof the home. If bats are found in the home, seek advice from an animal control or wildlife conservation authority. If doing it yourself, carefully examine your home for holes that might allow bats entry into your living quarters, then take steps to seal them. For instance, caulk any openings larger than a quarter-inch by a half-inch, ensure all doors to the outside close tightly, and use window screens, chimney caps, and draft-guards beneath doors to attics.
