July 10--Will County Health Department officials are recommending a Homer Glen family consider post-exposure rabies treatment after a second rabid bat was found in their garage this week.
A man living in the 13000 block of West Little Creek Drive trapped one bat that later tested positive for rabies in his garage with a bucket on Monday, county health department officials said in a news release. A second bat found in the garage tested positive Thursday, according to the release.
Initially health department officials said none of the three people living in the home were believed to have been exposed to the rabies virus, but after the "second potential rabies exposure in four days," they said they recommended the family talk to a doctor and consider post-exposure treatment, according to the news release. Health department officials also recommended having someone check the area near their home for bat colonies and, if found, bat-proof the home.
The rabies virus, transmitted through a bite from an infected warm-blooded animal, attacks the central nervous system and is found in the animal's saliva, brain tissue and spinal fluid, according to health department news releases. It is fatal if the person doesn't quickly begin receiving treatment, health department officials said.
The bat is the fifth rabid bat found in Will County this year, out of 57 bats sent for rabies testing, health department officials said.
Last year, 13 rabid bats were reported in Will County, which saw nearly a third of the state's wildlife rabies cases in 2014, according to the county health department.
"We're entering the prime season for bat rabies," Will County Animal Control Administrator Lee Schild said in the statement. Schild urged people to report any potential bat exposures to Animal Control authorities as soon as possible and keep pets' rabies vaccinations current.
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