Bats have tiny teeth so a bite mark may not appear, according to the Department of Environment, Health and Safety at the University of Michigan. Sometimes victims don’t even feel themselves being bit.
Pets are also known to contract and pass on rabies. Many municipalities have laws requiring pets that might be susceptible to rabies to get vaccinated.
“Myth: Three Americans every year die from rabies. Fact: Four Americans every year die from rabies.” - Michael Scott
Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
If a bat ever is in a room with you, get a rabies vaccine ASAP. Even if you think it wasn’t even close to you. Rabies has no cure and the vaccine only works within a certain time frame.
If you start showing symptoms like fear of water it is already too late, only one teenage girl was ever cured of it and extraordinary measures were taken like an induced coma and massive antivirals, she still didn’t fully recover.
I know this stuff because I got to work with bats once but didn’t come close to touching them, just the bags they were in. My partner is fully vaccinated and has prophylactic shots every year or two because she actually gets bitten by them often (apparently the rabies infected ones are a lot more bitey than uninfected ones).