Post by L Roebuck on Sept 13, 2006 7:28:11 GMT -5
Rabid bat stirs health concern
Children take shots after contact with bat in Mancos school
Tuesday, September 12th 2006
By John R. Crane | Journal Staff Writer
A rabid bat discovered in Mancos last week highlights a spike in reported encounters with the folkloric critters in Montezuma County this year.
Melissa Wilson, sanitarian with the Montezuma County Health Department, estimates more than 20 people have called the department this year reporting they’ve seen bats alongside their homes, campers and other areas around their property. That’s up from the one or two calls Wilson remembers getting in 2005.
On Aug. 29, a bat was spotted in a Mancos school building and later tested positive for rabies. Four children are undergoing a series of rabies shots after coming into contact with the dead animal, Wilson said.
Merely seeing a bat can be an indicator the creature is sick, said Dr. Ken Gershman, chief of the communicable disease program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“Typically, you don’t see healthy bats,” Gershman said. “When people see them, they’re injured or sick.”
According to the state health department, signs of rabies in bats include:
Activity during the day.
Difficulty flying or inability to fly.
Loud squeaking and hissing noises.
Being found in an unusual place, such as inside a house, on the ground or in an exposed area.
Rabies tests for bats have increased statewide, from 301 in 2005 to 369 so far this year, Gershman said. In 2005, 42 tested positive for rabies, while 57 have been declared rabid in 2006, Gershman said, citing numbers from the public health department.
The 2006 numbers do not account for those tested at Colorado State University’s veterinary lab, Gershman said. This year could be the highest numbers for bats tested in five years, he said. However, rabies cases have remained steady.
Gershman said increased reports of encounters could stem from media coverage in July of a man who dropped off a live bat, which his children had found, at the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment. The bat later tested positive for rabies, but the man and his children still needed to be tested.
Other factors accounting for more contact with bats include increased human population in the country, said Joe Lewandowski, public information officer with the Colorado Division of Wildlife office in Durango.
“There are a lot more people living in rural areas now,” Lewandowski said. “As communities grow and expand, there’s obviously going to be more contact with bats.”
Fred Blackburn, a Cortez bird enthusiast, said environmental conditions can impact bat populations. Increased moisture attracts more insects, meaning more food for bats, Blackburn said. Ideal bat habitats include cave-like areas such as old mine shafts, hollow trees, cracks and crevices in sandstone and those in alcoves, he said.
Bats are not birds, but mammals.
Judy Verbeck, a researcher of bats, said loss of habitat from development in the Four Corners area brings visiting bats from Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Also, Verbeck said younger bats may become disoriented and lost trying to find their way home.
Montezuma County provides plenty of home space for bats — with its rocky terrain including crevices and caves, Lewandowski said.
As for sightings, bats’ nocturnal habits assure many sightings at similar times — usually at dusk, Lewandowski said.
“We always see bats at one particular time of the day,” he said. “No matter when you see them, they are going to be noticeable.”
If someone stumbles upon a bat, they should not touch it, Gershman said. Either call the local health department and have an official take it away for testing, or shovel it up and put it in a closed container, he said.
Rabies is almost always fatal in humans, and early symptoms are barely noticeable, Gershman said. Once they show up, it’s too late. That’s why it’s paramount that anyone coming into even minor contact with a rabid bat get rabies shots, he said.
Rabies symptoms in humans include odd sensations, tingling in bitten limbs, progressing to weakness. Later signs include encephalitis-type symptoms — altered thinking or modes of consciousness, he said.
However, an exposed person usually has a decent window of time to get shots after contact, he said. The average incubation time for rabies is four to six weeks, and can vary from five days to a year.
“The good news is it’s not a short incubation period,” Gershman said.
Reach John Crane at johnc@cortezjournal.com
Article
Children take shots after contact with bat in Mancos school
Tuesday, September 12th 2006
By John R. Crane | Journal Staff Writer
A rabid bat discovered in Mancos last week highlights a spike in reported encounters with the folkloric critters in Montezuma County this year.
Melissa Wilson, sanitarian with the Montezuma County Health Department, estimates more than 20 people have called the department this year reporting they’ve seen bats alongside their homes, campers and other areas around their property. That’s up from the one or two calls Wilson remembers getting in 2005.
On Aug. 29, a bat was spotted in a Mancos school building and later tested positive for rabies. Four children are undergoing a series of rabies shots after coming into contact with the dead animal, Wilson said.
Merely seeing a bat can be an indicator the creature is sick, said Dr. Ken Gershman, chief of the communicable disease program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“Typically, you don’t see healthy bats,” Gershman said. “When people see them, they’re injured or sick.”
According to the state health department, signs of rabies in bats include:
Activity during the day.
Difficulty flying or inability to fly.
Loud squeaking and hissing noises.
Being found in an unusual place, such as inside a house, on the ground or in an exposed area.
Rabies tests for bats have increased statewide, from 301 in 2005 to 369 so far this year, Gershman said. In 2005, 42 tested positive for rabies, while 57 have been declared rabid in 2006, Gershman said, citing numbers from the public health department.
The 2006 numbers do not account for those tested at Colorado State University’s veterinary lab, Gershman said. This year could be the highest numbers for bats tested in five years, he said. However, rabies cases have remained steady.
Gershman said increased reports of encounters could stem from media coverage in July of a man who dropped off a live bat, which his children had found, at the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment. The bat later tested positive for rabies, but the man and his children still needed to be tested.
Other factors accounting for more contact with bats include increased human population in the country, said Joe Lewandowski, public information officer with the Colorado Division of Wildlife office in Durango.
“There are a lot more people living in rural areas now,” Lewandowski said. “As communities grow and expand, there’s obviously going to be more contact with bats.”
Fred Blackburn, a Cortez bird enthusiast, said environmental conditions can impact bat populations. Increased moisture attracts more insects, meaning more food for bats, Blackburn said. Ideal bat habitats include cave-like areas such as old mine shafts, hollow trees, cracks and crevices in sandstone and those in alcoves, he said.
Bats are not birds, but mammals.
Judy Verbeck, a researcher of bats, said loss of habitat from development in the Four Corners area brings visiting bats from Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Also, Verbeck said younger bats may become disoriented and lost trying to find their way home.
Montezuma County provides plenty of home space for bats — with its rocky terrain including crevices and caves, Lewandowski said.
As for sightings, bats’ nocturnal habits assure many sightings at similar times — usually at dusk, Lewandowski said.
“We always see bats at one particular time of the day,” he said. “No matter when you see them, they are going to be noticeable.”
If someone stumbles upon a bat, they should not touch it, Gershman said. Either call the local health department and have an official take it away for testing, or shovel it up and put it in a closed container, he said.
Rabies is almost always fatal in humans, and early symptoms are barely noticeable, Gershman said. Once they show up, it’s too late. That’s why it’s paramount that anyone coming into even minor contact with a rabid bat get rabies shots, he said.
Rabies symptoms in humans include odd sensations, tingling in bitten limbs, progressing to weakness. Later signs include encephalitis-type symptoms — altered thinking or modes of consciousness, he said.
However, an exposed person usually has a decent window of time to get shots after contact, he said. The average incubation time for rabies is four to six weeks, and can vary from five days to a year.
“The good news is it’s not a short incubation period,” Gershman said.
Reach John Crane at johnc@cortezjournal.com
Article