Two bats have tested positive for rabies in Jefferson County this summer, including one on Tuesday (Sept. 14) in Festus, and the other one in late August in Hillsboro.
A dog found the bat with rabies in Festus, and a cat found the one in Hillsboro.
Jefferson County Health Department environmental vector technician Scott Darrough said he is not worried that two bats were found in the county recently.
“To me, this is nothing alarming,” he said. “To have two cases in a year is really nothing to be concerned about in my opinion. If we had a whole bunch of animals all of a sudden showing up in one spot, that might be a concern, but we don't have that.”
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services state lab found the presence of rabies in the bat discovered in Festus. No humans are known to have come in contact with the bat in Festus, and the Festus Animal Control is overseeing the dog’s health, the Health Department reported.
“There are no wounds or anything like that to the animal,” Darrough said.
He said the dog is vaccinated against rabies, but is going to be quarantined for 45 days.
“This is just super precautionary,” Darrough said. “Instead of having a four-to-six month quarantine, it is only going to need to be quarantined for 45 days and that is because it was vaccinated.”
He said the dog will be tested for rabies at the end of its quarantine.
Darrough said the other bat was found Aug. 20 in Hillsboro.
“In both of these cases, pets were playing with (the bats), and (the bats) were brought to me,” he said.
Brianne Zwiener, the Health Department public information officer, said the department did not release a public statement about the positive bat in August.
Darrough said the cat was a “semi-stray cat” because someone was feeding it and looking after it, but it lived outside.
The cat tested negative for rabies, but Darrough said it was euthanized after the people looking after the cat surrendered it.
Darrough said there is a vaccine for rabies for both humans and pets.
“For folks who deal with animals, like your animal control officers, veterinarians, that sort of thing, there's a pre-exposure vaccine that they are recommended to get,” he said.
Darrough said bats are “very beneficial” to have around.
“They eat tons of insects, and a lot of these insects they eat are responsible for spreading various diseases, such as the West Nile (virus) in mosquitoes,” he said.
Other animals can be found with rabies, Darrough said.
“Theoretically, any mammal,” he said. “Foxes, raccoons, skunks, those are your primary ones that are out in the wild, as well as dogs and cats.”
Rabies is a preventable viral disease that can be fatal, but only spreads to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by a rabid animal. There is no cure for rabies.