Jefferson County Warns of Rabies Exposure After Several People Touched Injured Bat

Q: If you find a bat in your home or touch one outdoors, what immediate steps should you take to keep yourself and your family safe?

Treat any bat contact as a possible rabies exposure and act immediately. If you touched a bat outdoors, or if a bat was in a room with a sleeping person, child, impaired adult, or pet, wash any exposed skin right away with soap and water, and if saliva may have reached the eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound, rinse thoroughly and seek urgent medical advice. Contact your healthcare provider and Jefferson County Public Health promptly, because rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin but can be prevented with timely post-exposure treatment. If a bat is in your home, keep children and pets away and confine the bat to one room if you can by closing interior doors. Do not touch it, release it, or try to handle it with bare hands. If it can be safely contained for rabies testing, place a container over it and slide cardboard underneath, or call animal control or the health department for safe capture. In Jefferson County, residents are advised to contact animal control or Jefferson County Public Health at 303-232-6301. If a pet had contact with the bat, call your veterinarian immediately and make sure rabies vaccinations are current. Even tiny bat bites can go unnoticed, so public health officials say not to assume you are safe just because you do not see a wound. The safest response is to avoid direct contact, preserve the bat for testing if possible, and get professional guidance without delay.

3 articles · Updated · The Denver Post · Jun 18

Jefferson County Public Health said several people may have been exposed to rabies after touching an injured bat near the Evergreen Lake trailhead on Sunday.
Animal control could not find the bat for testing, while other bats found in Jefferson County homes and on trails in recent months have already tested positive for rabies.
Health officials urged anyone who touched the bat to contact a healthcare provider or the county immediately, saying prompt treatment can prevent the often-deadly disease.
The county and CDC said bats are the most commonly reported rabid animal in the U.S., and warned residents not to handle bats even when they appear hurt.