Avoid Touching bats to prevent rabies exposure

(Ogden, UT) –Weber-Morgan Health officials are reminding residents to avoid touching bats and other unfamiliar or wild animals to prevent exposures to the rabies virus.

In Utah, bats are the most common carrier of rabies, but any mammals such as skunks, raccoons, foxes and unvaccinated cats and dogs can also carry the disease. Rabies is a virus that has fatal consequences. The virus spreads through exposure to the saliva of an infected animal. It is not unusual for public health to get reports of bat exposures, especially in the summer, but this year has been extra busy with bat reports so far.

“The majority of the bats in our population are healthy and tend to keep to themselves. Since they are nocturnal, meaning they usually only come out at night to eat bugs and mosquitoes,” says Amy Carter, communicable disease nurse with the Weber-Morgan Health Department. “So if you happen to see a bat during the day, or it’s in a place where you, your child or your pet could touch it, there’s a good chance the bat is ill. Be sure not to touch the bat with your bare skin, no matter how cute it looks, even if you want to help it.”

Any direct or bare skin contact with a bat is considered a potential exposure. Bat bites and scratches can be very small and difficult to see or feel. Because bites and scratches can easily be missed, Carter said finding a bat in any sleeping area is also considered a potential exposure.

If you, or a pet, or someone you know has touched a bat, or has been bitten or scratched by a bat, or found a bat in an area where people have been sleeping, please take these steps:

• If you were bitten or scratched, you should wash the area thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If the bat is still there, try to secure the bat to that area without touching it. Get a heavy blanket, box or bucket and place it over the bat. If you must move the bat, use thick leather gloves and/or a shovel or tool to put the bat into a container that can be closed or covered.
• Call or your local Division of Wildlife Resources, public health department or animal control agency for further assessment and to arrange pick up of the bat for testing if needed.
• If a potential exposure occurred, then the bat will need to be tested for rabies to determine any needed treatment, called post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP.
• Contact your local health department and/or your medical provider to determine if any PEP, treatment or additional follow up is needed. Even if you question whether an exposure happened or not, please call for help in determining any risk of exposure and any needed follow up actions.
• Or visit the Utah Department of Health and Human Services website https://epi.utah.gov/rabies/ and complete the online Rabies Exposure Assessment Tool.

To learn more about bats and rabies, please visit:

https://epi.utah.gov/rabies/

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/bats.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/

If you have additional questions or have been bitten by an animal, please contact:

• Weber-Morgan Health Department, (801) 399-7250.
• Utah Department of Health and Human Services 1 (888)-EPI-UTAH
• Division of Wildlife Resources, 801-476-2740.
• Or your local animal control agency through Weber County Dispatch, (801) 395-8221.

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Media Contact: Lori Buttars, Public Information Officer, 801-399-7114