Girl recovering after being bitten by rabid bat

An eastern Missouri teenager is expected to make a full recovery after being bitten by a rabid bat, health officials said Thursday.

The incident should serve as a reminder for people to rid their homes of bats, even those that appear confined to the attic, and to get to a doctor if they've had contact with them.

"We don't want people living with bats," said Dr. Howard Pue, public health veterinarian for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

So far this year, 23 animals in Missouri have tested positive for rabies. Twenty were bats, Pue said, along with two skunks and a horse. In a typical year, around 60 animals in the state will test positive for the fatal disease, and most of them will be bats, Pue said.

The teen was bitten earlier this month at her home in Washington, Mo., about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis. Franklin County epidemiologist David Noe said the bite happened as the girl was sleeping.

"The bat flew in from the attic, and as she was sleeping, she felt something on her leg," Noe said. "She reached down to find out what it was, and it was a bat. It's kind of creepy."

In a sense, the girl was lucky. Pue cited statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that about three-quarters of those who die from rabid bat bites "had no recollection of having been around a bat."

The bat was taken to the county health department, which confirmed it was infected with rabies. It was the third rabid bat found in the county this year, but the only one known to have bitten a human.

The teen began a series of five shots over a 28-day period. She responded well -- in fact, has already returned to her part-time job, Noe said.

Bats are among the leading carriers of rabies, but other wild animals -- skunks, foxes, raccoons among them -- also tend to get the disease, health officials say. Because bats tend to get closer to humans, they are more frequently tested, resulting in the higher number of bats known to carry the disease.

The only way to determine the presence of rabies is to remove the brain, so any human feared to have been bitten must receive rabies shots.

"There's no room for error," Pue said. "You get rabies, you die."

The CDC says 40,000 Americans receive rabies shots each year, though typically, only one or two people in the U.S. die annually from the disease. But worldwide, the World Health Organization says rabies kills 40,000 to 55,000 people.

Noe said anyone suspecting the presence of a rabid animal should capture it or kill it and make sure not to destroy the head so the brain can be tested. He cautioned against touching the animal with bare hands. Use gloves, he said, or use something to push the dead animal into a container.

Pue also suggested keeping pets vaccinated, avoiding stray dogs and wild animals. And if you find a bat in the house, contact animal control rather than simply catching it and releasing it.

As for getting bats out of the attic, Noe said homeowners should watch for the moment when they fly out at night, then take action.

"Bats need water every day, so they will fly out of your house every evening in search of water," he said. "Once they fly out, you know where they're coming in at." He suggested netting to keep them from getting back in.

"It's nothing against bats," Noe said. "We need bats -- they're good for the ecology. But I like lions and tigers, too, and I don't want them in the house."