Rabies is a fatal disease. Each year, tens of thousands of people are successfully protected from developing rabies through vaccination after being bitten by an animal like a bat that may have rabies. There are usually only one or two human rabies cases each year in the United States, and the most common way for people to get rabies in the United States is through contact with a bat.
Those people didn t recognize the risk of rabies from the bite of a wild animal, particularly a bat, and they didn t seek medical advice.
Awareness of the facts about bats and rabies can help people protect themselves, their families, and their pets. This information may also help clear up misunderstandings about bats. Teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly. Wash any wound from an animal thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention immediately.
Have all dead, sick, or easily captured bats tested for rabies if exposure to people or pets occurs. Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas where they might contact people and pets.
Rabies in humans is rare in the United States. There are usually only one or two human cases per year. But the most common source of human rabies in the United States is from bats.
For example, among the 19 naturally acquired cases of rabies in humans in the United States from , 17 were associated with bats. Among these, 14 patients had known encounters with bats. Four people awoke because a bat landed on them and one person awoke because a bat bit him.
In these cases, the bat was inside the home. There are zero to two human deaths per year from bat rabies in the United States. A person living in the U. In the United States, however, due to successful vaccination programs, contracting rabies from dogs and cats is now rare. If a bat bites you, you will likely feel it. If you are awake and conscious, you will likely feel a bat bite because they feel like sharp needle jabs.
However, a bat bite can be superficial and not easily noticed. Bats have small teeth which may leave marks that are not easily seen, so there are situations in which you should seek medical advice even in the absence of an obvious bite wound. For example, if you awaken and find a bat in your room which means you could have been bitten while asleep , see a bat in the room of an unattended child, or see a bat near a mentally impaired or intoxicated person, seek medical advice and have the bat tested.
You cannot catch rabies just by being near a bat. Rabies is nearly always transmitted through a bite. Although rare, exposures can also occur from contact between infected saliva or nervous tissues and open wounds or the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth. The principal source of rabies exposure from bats is through careless handling. According CDC, people cannot get rabies just from seeing a bat in an attic, in a cave, or at a distance. In addition, people cannot get rabies from having contact with bat guano feces , blood, or urine, or from touching a bat on its fur even though bats should never be handled!
The rabies virus has never been isolated from bat blood, urine or feces, and there is no evidence of air-borne transmission in buildings. Two cases of aerosol transmission were reported in the s in Texas caves that support very unusual environments. However, no similar cases have occurred since, despite the fact that many thousands of people explore bat caves each year.
No such transmission has occurred outside or in buildings. Bats do not purposefully salivate or sneeze on people Like all mammals, bats produce saliva to moisten their food and keep their mouths comfortable, however, they do not produce enough saliva to drip on people while in flight or roosting. The World Health Organization writes that globally, " up to 99 percent" of rabies deaths come from dog bites. However, dogs in the U.
Americans are more likely to get rabies from foxes, skunks, raccoons—and bats. She explained that when someone gets bitten by a rabid raccoon or fox, they can tell easily that something's wrong, and they're more likely to go to the hospital to seek treatment. The CDC writes that modern rabies treatment post-exposure is successful nearly percent of the time. But if a bat bites you and you don't notice, that's when you could be in trouble.
Still, that doesn't mean that populations of bats in your neighborhood are a public safety risk. In fact, on average, it's good to have bats around. Bats can improve your health by eating lots of potentially threatening bugs.
0コメント