In recent weeks, Pitkin County has seen more calls about bats in homes in Snowmass Village, due to the large colony that lives in the area.
No bats have tested positive for rabies in Pitkin County this year, but there were two with rabies last year, both in unincorporated Pitkin County.
Rabies is nearly 100% fatal in humans, so county officials are urging folks to be extra cautious with bats.
Carlyn Porter is the Emergency Preparedness & Response program administrator with Pitkin County Environmental Health. She said they don’t want people handling bats themselves.
“We want them to call dispatch, call Animal Control, try to get someone in there to try and get someone in there to help with the situation that’s vaccinated against rabies,” she said.
She said those professionals will collect the bat, dead or alive, and send them to the state health department to be tested for rabies.
Porter said in our region, bats in homes aren't uncommon, especially in the eaves of the roof or in an attic, but it’s an issue if they’re coming into living spaces.
“A lot of times the bats that come inside, they're seeking shelter, because they're sick, so they're crawling on the ground or behaving strangely,” she said. “They're doing things that bats otherwise wouldn't do. So those are kind of indications that there's something wrong and the bat needs to be tested.”
According to Porter, it’s especially concerning if there’s a bat in your bedroom.
“So it’s not something that you can catch from being in the same room as a bat, you have to have direct contact, but when you’re sleeping, you don’t necessarily know what the bat is getting up to.”
Bats have very tiny teeth, so it can be hard to tell if you’ve been bitten or scratched by a bat. Porter says being able to get the bats and test them quickly means people know sooner if they need to get post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against rabies.
PEP for rabies includes a series of five shots over two weeks. The first shot includes immune globulin, so it must be administered by a physician. Porter said you should start PEP within 10 days of exposure, though some medical officials prefer to start patients within five days.
“For animals, the vaccine is very readily available, cheap, (and) easy,” she said. “But for humans, it's a fairly expensive vaccine, so we try not to recommend it unless it's absolutely necessary. But again, because rabies is so severe and its implications for human health, if it is necessary, we absolutely will recommend it.”
Rabies PEP can cost nearly $6,000.
It’s also a good idea to make sure your pets are vaccinated against rabies.
