Number of rabies-infected bats on the rise in Washington

With a larger than usual number of rabid bats discovered last month, state health officials are reminding people not to go near one if it appears ill.

Four bats — two in King County and one each in Snohomish and Chelan counties — were found to be infected with the viral disease.

While state health records show no rabid bats have been detected in Yakima County in 10 years, Yakima Health District records show there have been 32 cases of people possibly being exposed to rabies, mostly through dog bites.

“Rabies is 100 percent preventable, but it’s 100 percent deadly if it’s not caught,” said Liz Coleman, state Department of Health spokeswoman.

Last year, 343 people in Washington underwent treatment for possible rabies exposure, in cases such as being bitten by an animal that ran off before it could be captured and tested.

Washington is home to 15 species of bats according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Bats will eat their own weight in insects each night, and can be found throughout the state. Health officials say bats are the most common animal in the state to carry the rabies virus, representing nearly three-quarters of the animals found to have the disease.

State health officials test from 200 to 300 bats a year, and anywhere between 3 and 10 percent test positive for rabies.

The bats are tested when they appear sick after being found outside during the daytime, on the ground, inside a house where people are living, Coleman said. The test involves killing the bat and checking its brain for signs of the virus.

Coleman said the four that tested positive were the most found in the month of May since 1998. Last year, 22 bats statewide tested positive for rabies, a 10 percent increase over 2016’s 20 bats.

There’s no explanation for the increase, Coleman said, saying it could mean more bats are getting infected or people are coming into contact with bats more often.

Statewide, Yakima was one of 15 counties that had no bats that tested positive for rabies from 2013 to 2017, while King County had the most in that time period, with 22, followed by Spokane County with nine.

During those five years, Yakima County health officials turned over 12 bats for examination.

Holly Myers, Yakima Health District’s environmental health director, said most suspected rabies cases in the county involve dogs, with bats second.

People can become infected if they come in contact with the bats, although deaths are rare. State health officials say only two people have died of rabies in the state in the past 50 years.

In 1995, a 4-year-old girl in Lewis County died of rabies. Family members said a bat had been found in their bedroom, but the child did not appear to have been bitten, according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bat’s remains tested positive for rabies, the CDC found.

In 1997, a 64-year-old Mason County man died of what was initially thought to be a brain-wasting disease, but it was later determined to be a variant of rabies specific to large brown bats, one of the more common species in the state. There were no signs of bat infestation at his home, but the man spent time outdoors at night, a time when bats are active, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Heath officials say people should keep their pets’ rabies vaccinations current, and to not touch a bat with bare hands, as rabies can be spread if the animal’s saliva comes in contact with a cut on the person’s hand.