Two more rabid bats found in Utah. Animals test positive for rabies, a disease ‘100 percent’ fatal in humans

Utah parents are being urged to keep their children away from bats amid new reports of rabies cases in the state.

Two more bats were diagnosed last week with the disease — which is almost always fatal in humans — in the Salt Lake City area, one of which was in a local skate park and the second on a residential street.

Residents are told to shun all bats, as those who come into contact with humans are more likely to have the deadly virus, and to keep their pets and children away from the animals.

At least four other states — Colorado, Florida, Ohio and South Carolina — also reported rabid bats in the past month, with Florida warning a county home to nearly half a million people about the disease for two months.

A rabies-infected bat was discovered Aug. 26 at the Smith Fields Park Skatepark in Draper, near Salt Lake City, after residents reported it.

The same week, a second swift bat was found on a residential street in nearby Midvale, also in the Salt Lake City area.

The National Park Service reported another rabies bat in Arches National Park on Aug. 25, and three bats with the disease were also detected in the Salt Lake City area in early June.

So far, no cases of rabies or human deaths have been reported in the state, but officials say an average of 15 bats test positive for the virus each year.

A Utah Department of Health spokesperson said: “Parents whose children frequent (parks) should ask their children if they encounter a bat, and contact (the department) if anyone has been touched or touched by a bat.

The local police added: “If you – or your child or teen – touched or was touched a bat at the skate park this week, call the health department to be examined for rabies prevention medication.

“Rabies is considered 100 percent deadly if not treated before symptoms appear.

“If you come across a bat, DO NOT touch it or try to damage it.”

Health chiefs are concerned about the discovery of rabid bats because the animals are the leading cause of rabies deaths in humans in the United States.

The risk of infection is greatest in late August and September, when young, possibly infected, bats have fledged and are learning to forage.

This increases the risk of infection because the young bats are still learning to forage and therefore come into contact with people more often.

A bite from an infected bat, regardless of age, can transmit the rabies virus, which is transmitted from animals to humans through saliva.

The animals often leave bites or scratches on humans that are so small that there is no visible wound.

And the lack of a bite mark makes a bite even more concerning, as someone can be bitten by a rabid bat without knowing it.

Symptoms of rabies appear one to three months after exposure and quickly progress to hallucinations, delirium, and hydrophobia (a fear of water), followed closely by death.

But the disease — which is more than 99 percent fatal in humans once symptoms appear — can be treated with an aggressive drug regimen, such as getting multiple vaccines. However, the regimen should be started on the day of exposure.

According to official estimates, less than one percent of bats are infected with the virus.

But those who behave strangely or come into contact with people are up to 10 times more likely to carry the disease.

Some rabies-infected bats show no symptoms of the disease.

In addition to residents of Utah, residents of Seminole County, Florida are also on rabies warning after a rabid bat was found in the area.

The alert was declared on September 1 after the bat was found near Sunrise Community Park in the Oviedo neighborhood. It will remain in place for 60 days.

Colorado officials also raised concerns about rabies on Aug. 30 after a bat infected with the disease was discovered in the Paonia area, in the west of the state.

In South Carolina, officials also reported rabid bats and raccoons in Oconee County in late August.

No humans were exposed, but three cats and two dogs were believed to have come into contact with the bat’s carcass. The animals are now in quarantine.

And in Cincinnati, Ohio, there have been 14 reports of people coming in contact with bats — mostly in their homes.

According to official estimates, about two to three Americans die from rabies each year, with the numbers remaining low thanks to the rapid administration of treatments and efforts to discourage people from contacting potentially sick animals.

People feared to have been exposed to rabies are given Rabies Post-Exposure Prolaxe (PEP) – a vaccine and man-made antibody treatment.

In this, patients are injected with a dose of man-made anti-rabies antibodies to fight the infection as soon as they are exposed.

People suspected of being exposed to rabies also receive four doses of a rabies vaccine over two weeks. The rabies vaccine contains a small protein from the surface of the rabies virus to prepare the immune system to fight the real virus if it becomes infected.