KENNEWICK — A dead bat in Walla Walla County has tested positive for rabies.
It is the first rabid bat identified in Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties since 2018.
That year two bats in Benton County and one in Walla Walla County tested positive for rabies.
And in 2013 an 11-month-old girl was treated to prevent rabies after being bitten twice by a rabid bat on her grandparents’ Pasco deck.
Only one other rabid bat has been identified elsewhere so far this year — in King County.
Cases are most often found in May through October, according to Washington state Department of Health records, as bats are most active in warm weather.
Most recently a resident of Walla Walla County found and turned in a dead bat to the county’s Department of Community Health on June 12.
It was sent to the Washington state Public Health Laboratory and tested positive for rabies.
“We expect to find rabies in our bat population periodically,” said Dr. Daniel Kaminsky, Walla Walla County health officer. “This is a good reminder to avoid wild animals, especially if they are acting strangely.”
Usually bats in Washington state are only tested for rabies if a person may have been exposed, which was not the case this time.
The woman who found the bat this month was careful not to touch it when she collected it and turned it in, avoiding exposure, said Rick Dawson, environmental health division manager for the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health.
Deadly for people
Rabies is a disease caused by a virus that is carried in saliva and spread through animal bites or scratches.
The disease is almost always deadly for people if they do not get prompt preventative treatment after exposure to a rabid animal.
Anyone coming into contact with a bat, even if there is no bite or scratch, should seek medical attention, according to UW Medicine.
If you see a bat on the ground, leave it alone, Dawson said. Chances are the bat is infected.
Dead bats also should not be handled.
“They should never be touched,” said Dr. Paul Pottinger in an information UW Medicine video.
Treatment for possible rabies, including human rabies immune globulin and rabies vaccine, should be given on the day of exposure followed by a series of of vaccine doses over two weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
All dogs, cats and ferrets are required in Washington state to be vaccinated against rabies.
Cats are particularly likely to come into contact with small mammals that may be infected with rabies, such as bats, Dawson said.
The animals most likely to have rabies in the United States and infect people and pets are raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats, according to the CDC.
The last animal other than a bat that tested positive for rabies in Washington state was a cat in 2015.
Symptoms in an untreated person who is exposed appear after the rabies virus has traveled to the brain, starting out similar to the flu and progressing to confusion, and then hallucinations and fear of water.
In pets the symptoms of rabies may start with lethargy, fever and vomiting and within days lead to abnormal behavior, aggression and excessive salivation, according to the CDC.
