By Sarah Ladd

Kentucky Lantern

 

The Louisville health department says a bat found in the East End was positive for rabies, a rare but deadly viral disease.

This is the first rabies case in Jefferson County this year, Ciara Warren, environmental health manager at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (LMPHW), said Thursday.

“It is quite rare, but it is always a possibility,” she said.

The bat, found in the 40207 ZIP Code on a homeowner’s porch, is now dead after euthanasia and testing. The homeowner covered the bat and called the health department, and she was not exposed to rabies.

In 2023, Jefferson County had two rabies-positive bats, according to the health department. Previous year totals are:

• 2019 – 4 bats
• 2020 – 2 (1 bat, 1 dog)
• 2021 – 7 bats
• 2022 – 3 bats

The health department does not know where the 2024 bat could have contracted rabies, Warren said. Rabies typically spreads through blood or saliva.

 

How to stay safe if you come across a bat 

Health department staff said if you come across a bat, the safest thing is to assume the bat has rabies, and do not touch it.

Instead, cover the bat with something, if possible. Then, call the health department at 502-574-6650 and ask for someone with the rabies prevention program for further help and instructions.

“Bat teeth are very tiny, so most of the time, you do not know if you’ve been bitten or scratched by a bat,” Warren said. “Sometimes bats, if they do have rabies, and maybe are further along since they’ve contracted it, they might be showing some signs, maybe swooping kind of low, laying on the ground. They might look a little bit sick. You might think that they have rabies, but the safest thing to do is just avoid it, and do not touch any bat.”

If someone is unsure of exposure, one should call their doctor immediately, said Dr. Kris Bryant, associate medical director at LMPHW and pediatric infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital.

“Rabies is a viral infection, and once the virus enters your body from the bite or a scratch of an animal or even just handling an infected animal, the virus travels to the brain and can cause severe inflammation,” Bryant said.

Symptoms of rabies include confusion, agitation and coma.

“Once you develop symptoms, there is no treatment for rabies,” Bryant said. “Once you develop symptoms, the infection is uniformly fatal. So the most important thing to do is to prevent exposures by not handling bats.”

If someone suspects exposure but isn’t sure, they can seek post exposure prophylaxis, which in the case of rabies is a series of rabies vaccines and a dose of rabies immune globulin, Bryant said.

They should call their doctor to discuss that treatment as soon as possible, Bryant said.

Even though human rabies is rare, “once someone has symptoms, we don’t have effective treatments,” she said. “And so once someone is sick with rabies, they almost always die.”

 

How to protect pets 

Since 2019, one dog has tested positive for rabies in Jefferson County.

Ideally, all pets would be vaccinated against rabies ahead of time, Warren said. Either way, pet owners should call their veterinarian immediately to discuss options. There is no cure for pets, like humans, so all pets should stay up-to-date on their rabies vaccines.

“They would most likely recommend a 10-day quarantine, which is just where you monitor your animal for 10 days to make sure they don’t develop any signs or signs or symptoms of rabies,” Warren said.

Symptoms in a dog or cat include lethargy, foaming at mouth, stumbling and aggression.