On Thursday, May 1st, the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory confirmed that a bat found in a Multnomah County home was infected with rabies.
“People can do three things to protect themselves and their pets from rabies,” said Emilio DeBess, D.V.M. public health veterinarian in the Oregon Department of Human Services. “Use screens in your windows, never handle bats, and make sure your cats and dogs are up to date on their rabies vaccines."
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system after exposure to a rabid animal. Exposure is usually through a bite but can also occur through scratches and saliva contact with broken skin. It is almost always fatal once symptoms begin.
Bats play an important role in the ecosystem, especially in controlling insects and aiding agriculture, DeBess said, but a small percentage can carry rabies.
"Bats are normally night-time creatures," said DeBess. "They pose little danger to people who do not handle them. But if you find a bat during daylight hours, it is most likely unhealthy and should be avoided."
It should be noted that the danger of rabies cannot be blamed entirely on bats. According to the Centers for Disease Control, any wild mammal, like a raccoon, skunk, fox, coyote, or bat, can have rabies and transmit it to people.
Wild animals accounted for 92% of reported cases of rabies in 2006. Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (37.7% of all animal cases during 2006), followed by bats (24.4%), skunks (21.5%), foxes (6.2%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (0.6%)...
Domestic species accounted for 8% of all rabid animals reported in the United States in 2006.
--CDC Epidemiology Report
DeBess also advised that vaccinating pets against rabies protects them and provides a buffer zone between humans and rabid wild animals. "Sadly, if an unvaccinated pet is exposed to rabies, the recommendation is that it be euthanized," he said.
Nationally, twice as many cats as dogs are reported to have rabies each year, underscoring the need for better vaccination of cats, according to DeBess. |
