Post by L Roebuck on Apr 2, 2006 12:56:17 GMT -5
Bat in boy's pocket causes rabies scare
Web Posted: 04/01/2006 12:00 AM CST
Don Finley
Express-News Medical Editor
It was just too cool to resist — a Mexican free-tailed bat, flopping on the ground.
So a local elementary school student this week stuffed the sick bat in his coat pocket to show his classmates — prompting a rabies scare.
"Luckily, the bat was negative," said Roger Sanchez, an epidemiologist with the Metropolitan Health District. "But we want to remind parents to remind kids not to pick up these little things."
Each March, tens of millions of free-tailed bats make the long flight from Mexico to spend the spring and summer in the porous limestone caves and shadowy bridge supports of South and Central Texas.
Some younger bats will drop from exhaustion. Others will become injured or sick. The bottom line: more opportunities for human encounters.
"The really important thing is, look but don't touch," said Barbara French, science officer of the Austin-based Bat Conservation International.
BCI owns and maintains Bracken Cave in northern Bexar County, the largest bat cave in the world in terms of numbers — home to 20 million to 40 million free-tailed bats each summer. They emerge at sunset to eat, consuming some 200 tons of insects each night.
But a small number — 0.5 percent by one estimate — carry rabies. Last year in Bexar County, seven bats submitted for testing were positive for the virus.
"An animal on the ground is much more likely to be sick or injured," French said. "Bats are small and someone may think they could just pick it up. But you need to remember it's a wild animal like any other wild animal. You're not going to be attacked, but if you pick it up, it's certainly possible to be bitten or scratched."
As for the student, health officials aren't identifying him, his school or even the school district — except to say it was on the North Side. They are, however, describing him and his classmates as lucky.
"We always say you should tell children to get an adult," French said. "We might tell an adult to capture the bat, put a box over it, slide a hard piece of cardboard underneath so you have it contained. That way, if anyone has had contact with the bat, they can call animal control, which can pick it up and transport it to the health department for rabies testing."
www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040106.03B.bats.b436062.html
Web Posted: 04/01/2006 12:00 AM CST
Don Finley
Express-News Medical Editor
It was just too cool to resist — a Mexican free-tailed bat, flopping on the ground.
So a local elementary school student this week stuffed the sick bat in his coat pocket to show his classmates — prompting a rabies scare.
"Luckily, the bat was negative," said Roger Sanchez, an epidemiologist with the Metropolitan Health District. "But we want to remind parents to remind kids not to pick up these little things."
Each March, tens of millions of free-tailed bats make the long flight from Mexico to spend the spring and summer in the porous limestone caves and shadowy bridge supports of South and Central Texas.
Some younger bats will drop from exhaustion. Others will become injured or sick. The bottom line: more opportunities for human encounters.
"The really important thing is, look but don't touch," said Barbara French, science officer of the Austin-based Bat Conservation International.
BCI owns and maintains Bracken Cave in northern Bexar County, the largest bat cave in the world in terms of numbers — home to 20 million to 40 million free-tailed bats each summer. They emerge at sunset to eat, consuming some 200 tons of insects each night.
But a small number — 0.5 percent by one estimate — carry rabies. Last year in Bexar County, seven bats submitted for testing were positive for the virus.
"An animal on the ground is much more likely to be sick or injured," French said. "Bats are small and someone may think they could just pick it up. But you need to remember it's a wild animal like any other wild animal. You're not going to be attacked, but if you pick it up, it's certainly possible to be bitten or scratched."
As for the student, health officials aren't identifying him, his school or even the school district — except to say it was on the North Side. They are, however, describing him and his classmates as lucky.
"We always say you should tell children to get an adult," French said. "We might tell an adult to capture the bat, put a box over it, slide a hard piece of cardboard underneath so you have it contained. That way, if anyone has had contact with the bat, they can call animal control, which can pick it up and transport it to the health department for rabies testing."
www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA040106.03B.bats.b436062.html
