Hancock County bat tests positive for rabies

FINDLAY — Hancock Public Health reported Wednesday that a local bat has tested positive for rabies. Health Commissioner Lindsay Summit confirmed the bat was found in Hancock County, but declined to specify the location beyond that. "A family woke up to a noise and the bat was in the bedroom," Summit said. The family brought the bat to the health department, which sent it to the Ohio Department of Health for testing, she said. They received the positive test results within 24 hours. Hancock Public Health then immediately contacted the family and encouraged them to contact their healthcare provider to see if they would need prophylactic treatment, Summit said. She said this is standard protocol. This is the first bat to test positive in Hancock County since 2009, Summit said. "This serves as an important reminder for everyone to take precautions to protect themselves and their families from exposure to bats," stated the health department in a press release. Bats are the leading cause of rabies deaths for people in the United States. Every year, dozens of bats are submitted and test positive for rabies across the state of Ohio. Unfortunately, you cannot tell if a bat has rabies just by looking at it, and rabies can only be confirmed in a laboratory. If you have been in contact with a bat, even if you are not sure if you have been bitten or scratched, please contact the health department to discuss your rabies exposure risk and whether or not treatment is recommended. If you have any pets that may have been exposed to a bat, please consult your veterinarian for further instructions. The Ohio Department of Health notes that rabies from bats can spread to people even after seemingly minor bites or scratches. Summit added that, in some cases, people may not realize they have been bitten or scratched, so anyone who has had contact with a bat or found a bat in their home should reach out. "Err on the side of caution," she said. Rabies causes encephalitis, a deadly neurologic disease, and is almost always fatal once symptoms develop, ODH states. Therefore, it is important to see if you might need treatment to prevent symptoms developing. "It is also important to vaccinate your pets against rabies, even if they are only indoor pets," the ODH website states. "Bats can enter your home through an opening as small as a quarter inch to a half inch and can roost in areas of your home like attics, crawl spaces, and roofing. It is important to examine your home for holes that might allow bats to enter your living quarters." Whenever possible, the bat should be captured and sent to a laboratory for rabies testing. Hancock Public Health can assist in this process of sending it for testing. "We're talking about a disease with a 100% mortality rate," said Dr. Tyler Fields, a veterinarian at Blanchard Valley Veterinary Clinic in Findlay. "It's not really a disease we want to take a chance on." Fields and his colleagues regularly hear from owners of indoor cats who decline to get them vaccinated against rabies, assuming they will never be exposed. But even a pet that never leaves the home might still be exposed if another animal gets in, he noted. People do report finding bats in their homes. "Accidents happen," he said. Also, sometimes indoor cats escape and might roam the neighborhood for a few weeks. Once they come home, it's hard to know what they might have been exposed to, Fields said. And there is no way to test a living animal for rabies. It can only be diagnosed postmortem, Fields said. Over time, he said, we have gotten better as a society at preventing rabies through vaccination – but this may mean we are further removed from rabies and may not be as aware of why it's so vitally important to keep up the prevention. He added a professional concern is that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently paused its rabies testing program. News reports from April note that the CDC also paused testing for more than 20 other types of infectious disease. Fields encouraged owners to recognize the importance of prevention by getting their animals vaccinated. And, he said, please call your veterinarian if you have any questions. "We would rather have questions asked than something be assumed," he said. Summit said that, even without a positive test, Hancock Public Health always assumes that diseases like rabies may be present in the community. She reminded residents to be cautious. For questions and concerns, contact Hancock Public Health at 419-424-7870.