Rabies Found in Brookline Bat

BROOKLINE, MA – A bat in Brookline tested positive for rabies on Tuesday, according to the Department of Public Health.

The department is issuing a Rabies Advisory to emphasize the importance of capturing and testing bats found inside any buildings where humans or animals are at risk of exposure.

So far, dozens of bats have been captured in Brookline homes and tested for the virus; this is the first to test positive, according to the Department of Public Health.

"If a bat is found inside a house or other building, do not release the bat outdoors until you can safely rule out an exposure," Brookline Chief of Environmental Health Pat Maloney said in a press release.

According to the state DPH, situations that should be investigated as potential exposures are a person who has had direct contact with a live animal and cannot rule out that a bite or scratch may have occurred; an individual who awakes from sleeping to find a bat in the room; or cases where an adult sees a bat in a room with a previously unattended child, mentally disabled person, intoxicated person or domestic pet.

"If the bat cannot be captured and tested, all potentially exposed persons may need to receive preventive vaccinations," Barbara Westley, a Brookline Public Health nurse, advised in the release.

Pets that have been exposed may need booster vaccinations and an observation period, Brookline DPH said.

People or pets that have been exposed to bats should be reported to the Brookline Department of Public Health at 617-730-2300.

Because of a bat's small tooth size, there are sometimes no visible bite marks or scratches left on the skin and bat bites may go undetected. According to the CDC, 95 percent of people infected by bats over the last 10 years were not aware of bites or scratches.

Rabies vaccinations consist of a series of shots administered over the course of a month.

Photo of bat: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons