SEATTLE — A bat found near Washington Park Arboretum earlier this week has tested positive for rabies.
The bay was found on Sept. 23 in a residential area on Boyer Ave E. in the Montlake neighborhood.
A Seattle resident found a note on their door indicating that two strangers had given the bat water near their property. They warned the person of the sick bat.
The bat was euthanized by an animal control agency on Sept. 24.
Seattle & King County Public Health tested the bat for rabies and received a positive test on Sept. 25.
Anyone who might have had contact with this bat (even if not bitten) could be at risk and should seek medical evaluation immediately or call Public Health at 206-296-4774 to determine if rabies preventative treatment is necessary.
“Rabies is treatable if caught before symptoms appear, so identifying anyone who has had contact with the bat as soon as possible is important,” said Elysia Gonzales, Medical Epidemiologist at Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Contact includes touching a bat, being bitten, scratched, or any other bare skin contact with a bat or its saliva.”
Public Health said it has not been able to identify the two people who provided water to the bat. To date, no other people are known to have been exposed to this bat.
Here’s what to do if you find a bat, per Public Health – Seattle & King County:
If you see a bat outside, do not touch it.
If you are concerned that the bat is sick, call animal control. Find animal control services in your area.
If you find a bat inside your house, call Public Health at 206-296-4774 to discuss the situation and to determine whether the bat needs to be tested for rabies. Public Health tests bats for rabies at no charge under certain circumstances.
Open windows and allow bats to leave your home if they have not come into contact with a person or pets. Close doors to other parts of your home and secure pets away from the location of the bat.
If a bat had direct contact with a person’s bare skin or with a pet, OR if a person wakes up to a bat in the room in which they were sleeping, the bat should be captured and might need to be tested for rabies. Use a shovel or gloves to put a dead bat in a box for testing. Do not throw it away.
For more information about how to safely capture a bat in your home and how to safely avoid bats, visit: kingcounty.gov/bats
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