Beware Of Bats: Rabid Bat Found In Sutter County Home

LIVE OAK (CBS13) — What do you do when you find a bat in the attic? Call animal control!

That's what a family in Live Oak did when they found an injured bat inside their home last week on the 8900 block of Larkin Blvd.

After the animal was collected and submitted to the Health Department for testing, Sutter Animal Services Authority (SASA) announced that the bat was rabid.

The positive rabies diagnosis has forced the two adults and their three children to undergo preventative post-exposure prophylaxis treatment. This treatment, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, is a vaccine that prevents the potentially exposed humans from developing rabies.

Additionally, their three dogs are under a strict 30-day quarantine.

According to the Center for Disease Control, rabies infects the central nervous system that ultimately causes disease in the brain and death.

"The early symptoms of rabies in people are similar to that of many other illnesses, including fever, headache, and general weakness or discomfort. As the disease progresses, more specific symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation (increase in saliva), difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs within days of the onset of these symptoms," the CDC website says.

The CDC says rabies can be transmitted to a human from the bite of a rabid animal, or when the animal's saliva comes in contact with a person's mouth, eyes or an open wound. But, people should keep in mind that some bats have extremely small teeth that can puncture human skin without them noticing. There have even been cases of rabies where a person was infected without knowing they had been bitten by a rabid bat.

The SASA warns that people should never touch bats, especially if they seem sick or dead. It is recommended that people put screens on all windows and use chimney caps, place draft-guards beneath doors to attics and ensure that all doors to the outside close tightly.

Additionally, pet owners should keep their pets' rabies vaccinations up-to-date

The SASA recommends that residents immediately call them if there is a live or dead bat inside their home.