Bat found in Orange is positive for rabies; precautions urged for people and pets – Orange County Register

ORANGE — A bat found on a sidewalk in Orange has tested positive for rabies, prompting health officials Wednesday to warn residents to avoid contact with wild animals and seek medical help if they may have been exposed.

The bat was discovered around 2 p.m. Oct. 16 on the west side of the 500 block of South Main Street, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Officials urged anyone who touched the bat or saw someone else handle it to call the agency’s Communicable Disease Control Division at 714-834-8180, which operates 24 hours a day.

Pet owners whose animals may have had contact with the bat should contact their veterinarian, officials said.

“Once a person begins showing signs and symptoms of rabies, the disease is nearly always fatal,” the agency said in a statement, adding that preventive treatment is safe and effective if administered promptly after possible exposure.

The agency and OC Animal Care offered the following safety tips:

—Avoid contact with wild animals

—Vaccinate cats and dogs against rabies

—Do not sleep with unscreened windows or doors open

—Contact animal control if bats are found inside a home or building

—Do not leave pet food outside where it could attract wild animals

—Wash animal bites immediately with soap and water and seek medical care

—Report animal bites to OC Animal Care at 714-935-6848

Rabies is spread through the saliva of infected animals, usually by a bite, though rare cases have occurred through contact with the eyes, mouth or an open wound, officials said. Most U.S. human rabies cases in recent years have come from bats, whose small bites can go unnoticed.