Rabies: Bats and the unsuspecting homeowner

WILL COUNTY – While often seen circling on a summer night feasting on insects, bats can just as easily find a cozy spot in an unsuspecting homeowner’s chimney, bedroom or attic during cooler months.

But seeing a bat up close, especially in daytime, can be a sign of trouble, as has been the case with five rabid bats found in Will County in the past two weeks. The latest rabid bat was found Tuesday in Wilmington.

“Bats are really just mice with wings. They have extremely flexible bodies, capable of getting into small openings,” said Vic Reato, Will County Health Department spokesman. “It’s not unusual to find them in your house. But bats, by nature, don’t want to be involved with humans any more than we would wish to be involved with them.”

So when you see a bat out and about in the daytime, consider that a red flag that the bat is diseased, Reato said. The most serious problem could be rabies.

Rabies, a fatal disease that attacks the central nervous system, can only be confirmed in a laboratory. Because these normally nocturnal creatures can carry it, it’s best to steer clear of them during the day, especially if they seem disoriented and unable to fly, Reato said. That’s a sign they could be sick.

Three more bats were confirmed positive for rabies this week in Will County, bringing the area’s tally to nine this year, Reato said. The latest bat found is the fifth since Aug. 25, he said.

Some have been found in the oddest places.

In the latest confirmations, one bat was found hanging Tuesday from an outside wall of a garage in Wilmington, while another was found in a bathroom of a Mokena residence on Saturday. The residents thought they heard wings fluttering the night before, but the bat was found Saturday morning, Reato said. Another live bat was found in a Joliet living room Sunday.

Last month, a live bat found shelter beneath someone’s microwave in Joliet, while another was found in the hallway of a New Lenox home just outside a woman’s bedroom. Both later tested positive for rabies and post-exposure rabies treatment was recommended for those living in the homes.

Dr. Lee Schild, who heads up Will County Animal Control, said the number of positive tests so far this year is on the “high side,” but not out of the norm. Confirmed cases can fluctuate between four and 12 annually, he said.

While signs of the disease occur between 14 and 90 days from the time of a bite, the virus acts fast, Schild said. It is usually transmitted to people and other animals when they are bitten or scratched.

Early symptoms include excitability, apprehension, fever, headache and sensory changes at the bite location. Once symptoms appear, the disease almost always progresses to paralysis, coma and death within days.

That’s why Schild stresses that people should call animal control if they see a bat in their home – and never approach it.

“Always call animal control. There’s no effective [rabies] treatment in humans or animals,” Schild said. “Bats have such tiny teeth, they can actually penetrate the skin and not leave a mark, so it’s possible someone might not even know they’ve been exposed.”

Bats are generally “wonderful little creatures,” Reato said, often eating bugs and pesky insects. But they shouldn’t be considered approachable.

“Bats are wonderful in their own habitat. They eat bugs. They eat insects. They eat all the things that we would like to see be eaten,” Reato said. “But they just don’t mix with humans.”

Will County Animal Control is available for area residents who believe they have been exposed to bats. Call Animal Control anytime at 815-462-5633.

Know more

Since 2000, 80 bats have tested positive for rabies in Will County, with a record high of 12 in 2012. There were six in 2013, seven in 2011 and nine in 2010. Prior to 2012, the previous high was 11 confirmed in 2007.

The nine confirmations this year include three in Joliet and three in Wilmington, plus single positives from Braidwood, Mokena and New Lenox. The first positive for this year was confirmed May 12 in Joliet.

The state’s all-time-high record occurred in 2010, when 117 bats tested positive out of the 2,036 tested.