As nighttime temperatures start to drop and bats look for warmer spots indoors, the Berrien County Health Department is providing important information to help keep community members safe and prevent the spread of rabies.

 

Rabies is an acute, fatal disease that is spread to humans by exposure to animals infected with rabies. The virus is present in the saliva of an infected animal. It enters the body through a break in the skin caused by the teeth of a rabid animal or when scratches, abrasions or mucous membranes are contaminated with the saliva of an infected animal. Each year, 60,000 people in the U.S. receive medical attention after they have had a potential exposure to rabies.

 

In Michigan, most positive rabies cases are found in bats, who are most active in the summer and begin looking for places to hibernate for the winter in early fall. Other wild animals most likely to carry or be infected with rabies in U.S. are skunks, foxes and raccoons. This month, BCHD has been made aware of a dozen bat bites or scratches to humans. Eight of the bats have been sent for testing.

 

“Rabies is a painful disease that is almost always fatal if preventive treatment isn’t given quickly,” said Sara Palmer, epidemiologist at BCHD. “We are educating community members on how to protect themselves and their loved ones against bat and rabies exposure, which can result in long and costly treatments.”

 

Once symptoms develop, there are no effective treatments. Rabies symptoms may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, agitation, trouble swallowing and partial paralysis, which progresses into coma and then death.

 

If you are bitten by a bat, wake up to find a bat in your bedroom or find a bat in a room with a sleeping person, unattended child, person who is cognitively impaired or someone who is intoxicated, precautionary steps need to be taken to ensure a rabies infection does not occur. Bat bites are so small a person may not always know if they have been bitten. Anyone bitten by a bat should visit their health care provider for treatment of the wound and to determine if antibiotics are needed, among other steps.

 

To determine if a bat has rabies and post-exposure vaccination may be needed, the animal should be captured alive and brought to Berrien County Animal Control, which will coordinate with BCHD to send the bat off to be tested by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The bat should be brought in alive to ensure proper testing can be done. If the bat dies, place it in a container and keep it in the fridge until you receive next steps from Animal Control. If the bat is not caught and tested, the exposed person will need to get the rabies vaccine series.

 

The rabies vaccine series consists of four injections administered over 14 days and each dose can cost around $400, even with insurance. Safely capturing the bat and having it tested for the disease will help better determine the best course of treatment.

 

To safely capture a bat, you will need gloves, a small container or coffee can, a piece of cardboard or thin plastic cutting board and tape. To catch the animal:

1. Put on thick gloves before attempting to capture the bat.
2. Wait for the bat to land.
3. Slowly approach and place a small container over the top of the bat.
4. Slide the cardboard or cutting board under the container, trapping the bat inside.
5. Once the bat is in the container, securely tape the container shut so it cannot escape.
6. Place a few very small holes, less than a quarter inch in size, in the container to keep the bat alive.
7. Contact Berrien County Animal Control at 269.927.5648 between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday from to receive instructions on next steps. After hours, call Berrien County Dispatch’s non-emergency line at 269.983.3060.

The bat will be sent to MDHHS for testing, and the results will be available within five days. Once the results are received, the Health Department will work with you to determine if post-exposure treatment is needed.

 

You can prevent your risk of exposure to rabies by avoiding contact with wild animals. Never approach, touch or feed wild animals. If you store food outside, keep it in a sturdy container with tight fitting lid.

 

You can also make your home less accessible to wild animals by installing a chimney cap and sealing openings larger than a dime around your home such as attics, crawl spaces or areas under your porch or deck.

 

For more information on rabies and safely capturing bats, visit bit.ly/BCHDRabiesPrevention.