Niagara County Confirms 2 Rabid Bats, Sends 4 People for Rabies Treatment

Q: With four people receiving rabies treatment, how can you tell if a rabid bat bit you while you were sleeping?

You often cannot tell. That is why health officials recommend rabies evaluation or treatment if a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, a young child, or someone unable to reliably say whether contact happened. Bat bites and scratches can be extremely small and may leave no obvious mark. If there is a mark, it may look like two tiny punctures, a faint scratch, or a slight indentation, but many exposures are missed. People may sleep through a bite or not feel it clearly enough to recognize it. The practical rule is this: if you wake up and find a bat in your bedroom, or on or near you, treat it as a possible exposure even if you do not see a wound. The same applies if a bat is found in a room with an unattended child, a confused person, or a pet. What to do is straightforward. Wash any possible bite or scratch right away with soap and water for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not release the bat if it can be captured safely without bare-hand contact, because testing the animal can determine whether treatment is needed. Then call your local health department or seek urgent medical care. Rabies post-exposure treatment is highly effective when started promptly, but rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin. That is likely why four people in the Lewiston case were referred for treatment: not because a visible bite was confirmed, but because a bat exposure during sleep can be impossible to rule out.

3 articles · Updated · Niagara Gazette · Jul 24

Four people in a Lewiston home were referred for post-exposure rabies treatment after encountering a bat earlier this month, Niagara County health officials said Friday.
Two bats have now tested positive for rabies in Niagara County this month, making the Lewiston exposure one of two confirmed cases.
A July 17 case on Carmen Road in Hartland involved a dog but no human exposure; the vaccinated dog will get a precautionary booster shot.
The cases, confirmed by lab testing this week, add to local public health monitoring of rabid bats in Lewiston and Hartland.