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Published Date: 2004-09-06 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies, bats - USA (multistate): alert
Archive Number: 20040906.2491

RABIES, BATS - USA (MULTISTATE): ALERT
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[1]
Date: 6 Sep 2004
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Washington Times [edited]
<http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040902-102820-2299r.htm>

Rise in rabid bat numbers spurs health alert
--------------------------------------------
A sharp increase in the number of rabid bats
found in the District prompted city officials to
issue a health alert yesterday advising residents
to "bat-proof" their homes and stay away from
bats and other wild animals.

The Health Department during August 2004 found 14
rabid bats flying around inside homes, bringing
the total for the year to 15 -- the highest tally
since at least 1999. The agency usually finds 1
or 2 bats a year infected with the deadly rabies
virus.

More bats end up in homes this time of year
because young bats are venturing off on their own
and people leave doors and windows open. Anyone
coming into contact with a bat should alert the
health department and consult a physician.

"We are asking residents to take extra
precautions to avoid exposure," interim Health
Department Director Herbert R. Tillery stated in
a press release announcing the health alert. "A
few people die of rabies each year in the United
States because they did not recognize the risk of
rabies from a bite of a wild animal and did not
seek medical advice."

Mr. Tillery urged residents to avoid physical
contact with bats or other wild animals, keep
pets' rabies vaccinations up-to-date and
"bat-proof" dwellings by closing doors and
windows, fixing broken window screens and
securing loose shingles, vents, chimneys and
other possible access points.

The agency also found 8 rabid raccoons and 4
rabid cats so far in 2004 in the District, but
authorities say bats are the most common source
of human rabies.

The rabies virus is transmitted in saliva from
animals to humans, usually through an animal bite
but in rare cases from getting infected saliva in
an open wound, fresh abrasion or the mucous
membrane of the nose, mouth or eye.

Early symptoms of rabies in humans are
nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and
general malaise. As the disease progresses,
neurological symptoms may include insomnia,
anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis,
excitation, hallucinations, agitation,
hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing and
hydrophobia or fear of water, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Death usually occurs within days of the onset of
symptoms.

There is no treatment for rabies after symptoms
appear, though a vaccine can fend off rabies if
it is administered before or soon after exposure.
About 58 000 people receive the rabies vaccine
each year, according to a CDC Web site on rabies:
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies>.

Recent improvements to the rabies test used by
the health department could explain the increased
numbers this year, but that does not diminish the
public health risk indicated by the data, said
Peggy Keller, interim director of the agency's
community hygiene bureau. "It is still a great
number and there have been a lot of bats with
rabies in the houses where we've removed bats,"
she said.

Ms. Keller advised residents not to capture bats
that fly into their homes or to chase them out.
Instead, back out of the room, close the door and
call animal control. Health officials will want
to test the bat and determine whether the
resident needs rabies treatment.

The vaccine no longer entails the dreaded 20
injections in the stomach. The treatment now is
administered with a singe injection, similar to a
tetanus shot, Ms. Keller said. "It's not
something to be afraid of anymore," she said.

Residents also should not worry about being
attacked by rabid bats either in their homes or
outdoors, said Marie Magnuson, bat-keeper for the
National Zoo.

"People hear the word rabies and they think of
the ferocious form, like in the movie 'Old
Yeller.' But bats get the dumb kind," she said.
"They get sick and can't fly and just fall to the
ground. As long as you leave them alone, you're
not going to get bit."

Miss Magnuson said she's never been attacked by a
bat, despite working daily in a cave with 450 of
them. However, she has been bitten when handling
the bats. She also has been inoculated against
rabies.

The most common bat species in the city is
_Myotis lucifugus_ or "little brown bat," which
weighs no more than 10 grams, about the same as a
quarter. Though they may look small and harmless,
they can carry the rabies virus and should never
be handled, Miss Magnuson said.

The number of human deaths attributed to rabies
in the United States over the past century has
declined from 100 or more each year to an average
of 1 or 2 each year, according to the CDC.

A Northern Virginia man died from rabies in 2003,
the state's 1st fatal case in nearly 5 years. The
man, 25, was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms
in mid-February and died in mid-March. Rabies was
not initially suspected.

[Byline: S.A. Miller]

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[2]
Date: 6 Sep 2004
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug 2004 [edited]
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearnorthwest/chi-0408250368aug25,1,4788745.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearnorthwest-hed>

5 McHenry teens treated in rabid-bat case
-----------------------------------------
5 McHenry County teenagers are undergoing medical
treatments after coming in contact with a rabid
bat, 1 of 6 infected bats found in the county
this year, health officials said.

Typically, the county records 1 or 2 rabid bats
each year. This year's increase could be
"something that is cyclical," said Norma
Spitzbart, the county's animal control officer.
About 3 weeks ago, the teens rescued a bat they
discovered in Crystal Lake foundering in water.
It then flew into a tree, and Crystal Lake fire
officials were called to capture it.

Statewide, 33 rabid bats have been reported so far in 2004, the highest
number in the last decade, said Tom Schaefer, spokesman for the Illinois
Department of Public Health. During 2003, 24 bats tested positive for rabies
in the state.

In addition to McHenry County's cases, Lake
County has had 2, Will County 4, DuPage County 1
and Cook County 3, officials said.

Health officials are warning residents to stay
away from wild animals, especially bats.
"People don't realize how catastrophic contact
with a bat can be," said Fran Stanwood, director
of nursing for the McHenry County Health
Department.

Anyone who finds a bat in their house or has had
contact with one should call the county Animal
Control Department.

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[3]
Date: 6 Sep 2004
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Sources:Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming) / AP [edited]
<http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/08/27/news/wyoming/32b40723478e6af187256efc005bd48b.txt>

Rabies found in 2 bats
----------------------
2 bats in Laramie and Albany counties, Wyoming, have tested positive for
rabies but have not caused any known human exposure, health officials say.

While the occurrence of rabies isn't unusual for this time of year, the City-
County Health Department and Cheyenne Animal Shelter say people should to be
aware of the problem and make sure vaccinations for dogs, cats and ferrets
are up-to-date, as is required by law.

City-County Health director Gus Lopez said a cat
that happened upon the bat found in Laramie
County is under quarantine at the animal shelter.

Rabies is an infectious disease that affects the
nervous system of humans and other mammals.
People get rabies from the bite of a rabid
animal. It's also possible for people to contract
the disease if infectious material from a rabid
animal, such as saliva, gets into their eyes,
nose, mouth or a wound.

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[4]
Date: 6 Sep 2004
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Syracuse.com (Oswego County (NY) 27 Aug 2004 [edited]
<http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/oswego/index.ssf?/base/news-5/109359844977350.xml>

Rabies vaccine air drop to start; Oswego County
is trying to prevent the deadly disease from
spreading
---------------------------------------
4 rabid animals have been found so far in Oswego County in 2004: a bat in
Palermo, a skunk in Scriba and 2 skunks in Richland.

Health officials, worried the virus will spread, are dropping thousands of
rabies vaccine packets from airplanes this week to try to immunize raccoons
and other wild animals in the county against the disease.

"Rather than try to deal with the after-effects
when the virus is here -- the people it affects,
the animals it infects, the pets that have to be
quarantined -- it's a lot easier to take part in
this program and try to push rabies out of Oswego
County," said Evan Walsh, associate public health
sanitarian for the county health department and
head of the rabies program.

Airplanes will drop more than 32 000 packets of
bait containing the rabies vaccine throughout the
northern part of Oswego County. The aerial raid
will take place today or Saturday and target 6
towns: Redfield, Orwell, Boylston, Sandy Creek,
Richland and Albion.

County health officials also will distribute bait
by hand in the villages of Pulaski, Sandy Creek
and Lacona, Walsh said. About 1100 vaccines will
be placed near dumpsters, streams and wooded
areas in those villages beginning Monday.

Hand baits are 2-inch cubes of fish meal with a
packet of rabies vaccine in the center. Aerial
baits are soft, plastic packets, about 2 inches
long, which hold rabies vaccine coated with fish
meal and a wax binder. "It's like a ketchup
packet you get in those fast-food stores," Walsh
said.

Rabies first appeared in the state in 1990. The
first Oswego County case was discovered in
February 1994 after an infected raccoon scratched
a dog in Schroeppel, Walsh said.

Experts believe the virus spread from the South
to the North. Cases of rabies were documented in
Florida and other Southern states in the 1980s,
Walsh said.

Rabies is invariably fatal if left untreated but rarely kills humans, because
the public health system is designed to treat exposure with effective
vaccines. Rabies affects animals' brains and nervous systems, causing them to
act strangely. Walsh said "They bite off their own feet, attack anything and
everything that moves. Their central nervous system is just shot."

Health officials began sprinkling the county with rabies vaccines 3 years
ago, Walsh said. The program extends beyond the county lines. "The long-term
theory is to ... start to develop a boundary along the northern part of the
state and push raccoon rabies back down South," Walsh said.

Rabies packets will be dropped in 9 other
counties in the state, including Lewis, Franklin,
Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. The program
also extends through Ohio, Maine and several
Canadian provinces, Walsh said.

The rabies vaccine is not harmful to people or
pets, Walsh said, but health officials are urging
people to stay away from the packets. If a pet
eats a vaccine or brings one home, health
officials ask people to report it to the Oswego
County Health Department.

[Byline: Delen Goldberg]

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[This post illustrates the fact that bats are coming into more frequent
contact with people, and that education regarding bat behavior is needed.

The above reports are educational about the behavior of a normal bat vs. a
rabid bat. The articles are also helpful by reminding people that the post-
exposure prophylaxis against rabies is no longer the 20-shot series, and is
not given in the stomach. - Mod.TG]

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