By Geena Monahan–For the North Star Reporter
According to a public service announcement put out by the Town of Plainville’s Board of Health Department, a local resident is currently receiving treatment after being bit by a rabid bat.
On Monday, June 2, the resident, whose name was not provided, reported encountering and making contact with a bat in their Plainville home. According to the online statement, “animal control and the residents are working alongside the state epidemiologist, and the resident has begun appropriate medical treatment.”
Lexi Klenk, the animal control officer for Plainville and Wrentham, told the North Star Reporter that while calls about bats are common, this is the first time in her year-and-a-half as Plainville’s ACO that she has encountered a bat that has bit a resident and then tested positive for rabies.
According to Klenk, the Plainville Police Department was first on scene to check for injuries and provide appropriate care for the person who was bitten. Klenk was able to remove the bat from the residence, which had been captured in a net by the homeowner. The bat was then transported to Tufts Wildlife Clinic in Grafton before being humanely euthanized and testing positive for rabies.
Klenk said that residents shouldn’t be alarmed if bats are seen out and about at nighttime “like they should be,” but that animal control should be contacted to remove any bats found inside a home.
“We make sure that we go out right away to any bat calls; if someone wakes up with them in their bedroom and they don’t know if they bit them or not, we can also send them out for testing just to be sure,” said Klenk. “But, pretty much any bat we come in contact with we will be sending out.”
As the director and public health nurse for the North Attleborough Health Department, Anne Marie Fleming said that a bat testing positive for rabies is a very rare occurrence. In the 25 years that she has been employed through the town, Fleming can’t recall any other time that she’s heard of a “true positive” bat biting a person.
“Typically, we don’t see a lot of positive bats or other animals,” said Fleming. “It’s more rare than people realize. It’s absolutely something that does kind of heighten our awareness.”
Fleming said that her general recommendation is to stay away from bats but, if someone has a concern, catching the bat without injuring it so that it can be tested is the best course of action. Oftentimes, according to Fleming, it can be hard to determine if a bat does have rabies if an autopsy cannot be performed, so it must be treated as if is positive without truly knowing.
If a bat, or any other animal, were to test positive for rabies in North Attleborough, Fleming said the town would ensure it provided good education to residents and that it would work closely with the state and the town’s animal control officer. To Fleming, the main concern is that once you know there’s a positive for rabies, there could always be others.
“For the most part, they’re harmless and they just want to get away,” said Fleming. “People should make sure that any possible entries, such as small entrances in attics or rooms having screens on windows being secured is some of the best prevention.”