For Release: IMMEDIATE
Date: June 21, 2006

Public Health Officials Urge Caution for Summer Campers and Bats

RALEIGH—North Carolina is a popular destination for summer campers seeking a healthy outdoor experience. Public health officials say that a few simple precautions can ensure that experience isn’t marred by a rare, but potentially fatal disease – rabies.

While many people are aware that raccoons, foxes and unvaccinated dogs and cats may carry rabies, many do not know that bats can also transmit this deadly disease to people. In fact, the few human cases of rabies in the United States during recent years were traced to bats. Bat bites can be difficult to detect and may not cause a person to wake from a sound sleep. A few simple precautions can protect you from rabies.

“ North Carolina is a great place for camping, you just need to make sure you aren’t camping with bats,” said State Public Health Veterinarian Carl Williams. “Don’t sleep in a cabin, tent, shelter or lodging facility if bats are present. If you wake up and find a bat sharing your space, it should be captured and tested for rabies as quickly as possible, and you should seek medical advice. If the bat cannot be captured, you have to assume you have been exposed and seek medical treatment.”

If you know you have been bitten, thoroughly wash the wound with lots of soap and water and call a doctor immediately. If you can’t capture the bat, then you must still talk with a physician about what medical care you might need. If there is a chance you may have been exposed to rabies, or if the animal is caught and it tests positive for rabies, you will need to get a series of shots to prevent the disease. You cannot wait to see if you get sick, because there is no known cure once the disease develops.

If you own buildings that are only used seasonally, take care to exclude bats from the building. Bats flying outside at night pose little risk. However, bats flying outside in daytime, flopping around on the ground, landing on or near someone, or roosting in accessible locations should be avoided, as should any bat found indoors. Bats typically enter structures in spring. Buildings where bats may be roosting should be inspected. During daylight hours, inspect attics, rafters, walls, chimneys, porches and cellars for roosting bats, bat guano, crystallized urine or musty ammonia odor. Also inspect for exterior openings that will allow bats to enter the structure.

If a bat is found indoors, the structure should be thoroughly inspected for the presence of roosting bats. Structure-infesting bats pose a health risk and must be prevented from entering occupied rooms. When bats are found roosting inside a structure, the building should be inspected for routes by which the bats might gain access to the living quarters. Such passageways might include ductwork, false ceilings, attic doors, chimney, holes in walls, and gaps around pipes and wiring. Every effort should be made to seal openings large enough for bats to squeeze through.

For procedures to exclude bats contact your NC Wildlife Resources Commission representative.

Rabid bats may exhibit no obvious abnormalities, so all contact with bats should be avoided. Where there is a likelihood of encountering bats, such as at children’s outdoor camps, people should be instructed not to touch bats. Similarly, people should NOT be allowed to occupy a room in which bats are found, until it is certain that no bats remain in the room and that the room has been sealed to prevent their re-entry.

Bats benefit people because they eat large quantities of insects, including mosquitoes that transmit LaCrosse Virus, West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Only about three percent of the bats tested in North Carolina are positive for rabies, so most of them pose no risk to humans, but you never know which ones may be infected. So, physical contact with bats must be regarded as a potential rabies exposure.

Other wildlife, like raccoons, skunks and foxes, may also carry rabies. Never touch, pet or feed wild animals, whether they appear to be sick or not. Open containers of food—including pet food—or garbage may attract these animals to your yard or campsite, so keep garbage and food in tightly sealed containers and feed pets indoors. If you are bitten by a wild animal, contact a physician immediately.

“ Rabies is a fatal disease,” said Dr. Williams. “But, people can protect themselves and their families by following these common-sense guidelines. And if they do come into contact with a bat—even briefly—or other potentially rabid animal, it is important that they know to see a doctor right away.”

For more information on rabies, see the N.C. Division of Public Health’s rabies website at www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/rabies.html.

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