POSITIVE RABID BAT FOUND IN NANAIMO
BC SPCA Nanaimo Branch
We wanted to make everyone aware that a bat has recently tested positive for Rabies close to Wellington School in Nanaimo. If your pet has caught a bat, do not handle; use work gloves or tongs and place it in a box or plastic container and take it to your vet for testing!
Cats often catch bats and are bitten. They then can spread the disease to you or your children. Children often do not tell anyone that they have been scratched or bitten. If you or your pet begins to show signs of infection it is too late!
VACCINATE YOUR PETS! Rabies is 100% fatal.
Rabies (pronounced /ˈreɪbiːz/. From Latin: rabies, “madness”) is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals.[1] The disease is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from one species to another, such as from dog…s to humans, commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if postexposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death.
