Local Bats Test Positive For Rabies
Author: Amber Johnson, Communications Dept. Lewis & Clark Public Health Department
Local Bats Test Positive for Rabies
Amber Johnson
Communications Dept. Lewis & Clark Public Health Department
According to local health officials, two bats in Lewis and Clark County have recently tested positive for rabies.
“Bats are a normal part of our ecosystem and play an important role in mosquito control during the summer season,” says Laura Hendley, Lewis and Clark Public Health Environmental Health Specialist.
“It is only if a person has direct contact with a bat that it is important to evaluate the situation for potential rabies exposure, and often to test the bat to be sure that it does not have rabies,” adds Hendley.
Direct contact would include handling a bat, being bitten or scratched by a bat, getting bat saliva in the eyes or in an open cut, or finding a bat in a building or room where people have been sleeping or in an altered mental state, or where a child may have been unsupervised around a bat. Bat bites are small and not always easy to detect, especially during sleep. Bat bites may also leave temporary, small bite marks or no mark at all.
Anyone who has direct contact with a bat needs to be evaluated for potential rabies exposure, as rabies is always fatal if not treated. Treatment involves a series of shots that should begin as soon as possible after exposure and is recommended in situations of potential exposure where the bat cannot be tested or where the bat tests positive.
“If you find a bat in your room or house, please contain the bat and report the incident to Lewis and Clark Public Health (LCPH) immediately,” says Hendley.
To report a bat contact, please call 406-457-8919. For after business hours emergencies, residents can contact the Public Health Duty Officer at 406-523-5564.
If it is after hours and neither LCPH or Animal Control are available, residents are encouraged to catch the bat, without touching it, for testing. If Animal Control is available, they will catch the bat.
“Also,” adds Hendley, “please educate children to leave bats and other wild animals alone and to not touch them.”
If a family pet has contact with a bat, please contact your veterinarian and/or Animal Control. Animal Control may collect and test a bat that has had contact with pets.
To contact Lewis and Clark County or City of Helena Animal Control, call the non-emergency dispatch number 406-447-8293.
For pet-related questions, residents can also contact the Department of Livestock State Veterinarian’s Office at 406-444-2976.
“It is important to remember that bats are a good and normal part of our environment,” says Hendley.
“This is by no means a rare occurrence. Please don’t live in fear of bats, just don’t touch them; give bats the respect and space they deserve as wild animals.”
For more information on bats and rabies, visit the state health department website at: https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/cdepi/diseases/rabies.
For further questions, call the Lewis and Clark Public Health Licensed Establishment team at 406-457-8919. Interested residents can also visit the Lewis and Clark Public Health website to read a public health guide and brochure about bats and rabies: bat-brochure.pdf.
