POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Residents southwest of Lakeland are being urged to double-check their pets’ vaccination records after a Brazilian free-tailed bat tested positive for rabies this week. This discovery marks the second confirmed case of the virus in Polk County for 2026, surfacing just twelve days after the year’s first report.
The incident began last Wednesday, March 25, when a local man discovered one of his three dogs pawing at a bat inside his home.
Acting quickly, the homeowner contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control. Deputies collected the bat and transported it to the Bureau of Public Health Laboratories in Tampa for diagnostic testing…