Facts About Bats and Rabies

• Most bats do not have rabies.  Only 6% of sick or weak bats tested for rabies tested positive.

• Raccoons and skunks are more often carriers of rabies than bats.

• Despite this, bats are the most common source of human rabies in the United States.  In the U.S. between 1997 and 2006, 17 out of 19 naturally acquired rabies cases in humans were a result of contact with bats.

• You can’t tell if a bat has rabies by looking at it.  However, unusual behavior may indicate the possibility of rabies.  This includes bats that are active during the day, bats that enter your home, a bat that is unable to fly, or other behavior that is unusual.

• Occasionally people get rabies from bats because bat bites can go unnoticed due to their small teeth and claws.  Some people have been bitten by bats while sleeping and developed rabies because they did not know they’d been bitten.

• You should use extreme caution around bats and  never touch or handle them in order to avoid all risk of rabies.

• There is currently no way to vaccinate bats like is often done for other animals in the wild because they eat insects and they won’t consume the vaccine baits.  Researchers are trying to develop other ways to vaccinate bats.