Two positive cases of rabies have been reported in bats in Lincoln County around Bell Cow Lake in Chandler.
“Oklahoma is seeing more cases of rabies in the state this year than previous years,” State Public Health Veterinarian LeMac’ Morris said. “With more sightings of skunks and bats, this is the perfect time to remind pet owners about the importance of vaccinating family pets, and even livestock.”
Veterinarian Theresa McKinzie at the Lincoln County Animal Hospital said the first case was Aug. 6 and the second case Sept. 16.
“Rabies is definitely real, it’s definitely out there and it definitely kills,” she said.
McKinzie said both the bats in these cases were aggressive.
In the first case, the bat flew out of the sky and bit a human, then the human’s dog grabbed the bat and killed it.
For an evaluation of rabies risk, or guidance on a suspected rabies case, contact the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Acute Disease Service at (405) 271-4060.
McKinzie said they would help with the packaging and preparing all the proper paperwork needed for a bat to be tested.
“That’s not per say our job, but we’re here for public health,” she said. “We don’t just take care of pets, public health is a big priority for veterinarians. So rabies testing is something we can help with here.”
When it comes to testing, the bat needs to be refrigerated, not frozen.
“If there’s a break in the refrigeration and the sample soils, they have to assume it was positive,” she said.
McKinzie said there are two forms of rabies, serious and dumb.
Symptoms of the serious form of rabies include aggressive behavior, inability to walk, seizures and foaming of the mouth.
McKinzie said rabies is a neurological disease that deteriorates the brain and doesn’t allow the animal to swallow.
Symptoms of the dumb form of rabies includes unresponsiveness causing the animal to enter a catatonic state.
“It’s not just acting erratically, it’s finding one down,” McKinzie said. “Just because it’s not foaming at the mouth and trying to kill you doesn’t mean it’s not rabies.”
Bats are normally found in evening or night, circling lampposts, and usually keeping their distance.
“Most of the time they will never come near a person or come near an animal,” she said. “They stay away.”
Dr. McKinzie said erratic behavior in a bat would it being close enough to touch.
“If it got close enough to you to touch it, or is on the ground, or is active aggressively, couldn’t fly away, things like that,” she said.
McKinzie said bats in Oklahoma are a known reservoir and that every bat in Oklahoma is a suspect for rabies.
“My primary concern is not with adults, most grown ups are smart enough not to touch a bat, but kids just don’t know,” she said. “It’s really important for parents to communicate that any wildlife you can touch is not normal. Wildlife should not walk up to you. Anything, like a raccoon, a skunk, a fox, anything that just comes up and says ‘hi’, that’s not normal.”
McKinzie said anyone who has had any type of contact with a bat, whether it be being bitten, scratched or just touched, needs to assume they have had exposure to rabies.
McKinzie said rabies has a 99 percent fatal rate if not treated.