The Niagara County Health Department has confirmed that there was an encounter with a bat that was infected with rabies earlier this week.
A bat with rabies had an encounter with a dog in North Tonawanda
According to WIVB, the Niagara County Health Department said a dog had an encounter with a bat on Tonawanda Creek Road and found that the bat had rabies. They said tha ta sample was submitted to the NYS Department of Health Wadsworth Center on Wednesday and they confirmed the results on Thursday. The dog was up to date with its rabies vaccination so it only received a booster as a precaution. Three members of the household were sent for further evaluation to the Nursing Division.
August is a very busy time for bats in Western New York
A few weeks ago, the Erie County Health Department was reminding people that August is a very busy time for bats. They had said that there was a huge increase in bat encounters and that it’s unfortunately not uncommon to find them in your home. They will often sneak in through small gaps in the roof, or simply fly through open windows or doors.
While they’re not usually dangerous and can be helpful to keep bugs down around your house, they can also carry rabies, like the one they found in Niagara County.
What should you do if you find a bat in your house?
Most people will do everything they can to get a bat out of their house if they find one there. The safest way is to confine it in one room if possible, then turn off the lights in that room and open the window. Normally, the bat will fly right back out.
However, if you can safely contain the bat, they actually suggest you do that so that they can test it to see if it does have rabies before releasing it safely back into the wild. That should only be done though, if you can do it safely without further interaction with the bat…