By BRODIE FENLON, TORONTO SUN
Summer is the season of the bat.
And as these beauty-challenged nocturnal mammals emerge from hibernation, so increases the risk of rabies.
Already this year, 10 bats have tested positive for rabies in Ontario, including one in York region and another in Peel.
A total of 287 Ontario bats were confirmed to have rabies from 2000-2004.
Before you panic, remember that human rabies from contact with bats is rare: There have been five Canadian cases since 1925, with the last causing the death of a 52-year-old B.C. man in 2003.
Before that, a 9-year-old Quebec boy died of rabies in late 2000 after he was exposed to an infected bat at his cottage.
ASSUME THE WORST
The number of rabid bats in southern Ontario is relatively small, but the consequences are so catastrophic that you have to assume any bat in human contact is rabid unless it's proven otherwise.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 Ontarians undergo rabies post-exposure vaccine treatment every year, with more than half of those cases due to contact with bats.
Six Toronto area residents have already been given the vaccine this year due to bats, and another 26 were treated last year.
The precautionary treatment, which involves five injections over a month, is often mandatory because the animal is set free or disappears before it can be tested for the fatal disease by public health officials.
"Rabies in bats is fairly rare. Less than 1% of bats have the disease," said Beverly Stevenson, information officer with the rabies research unit at Ontario's ministry of natural resources.
"But most of the human deaths caused by rabies in North America are a result of bat strains," she said.
Experts agree the prevalence of bat rabies has remained stable over the past decade. However, the number of confirmed cases has spiked dramatically over the last five years due to greater public awareness.
That's due in part to a recent change in policy at the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, which now recommends rabies treatment for anyone who awakens to find a bat in their room and the animal can't be tested. Same goes for children and invalids left alone with a bat.
DON'T ALWAYS LEAVE MARKS
"Bat bites hurt. They feel like sharp needle jabs. But they don't always leave visible marks on the skin," said Barbara French, science officer with Bat Conservation International, a non-profit agency based in Texas that works to protect bats and their habitats worldwide.
"You don't want to assume that someone wasn't bitten because you don't see a mark on their skin," she said.
High profile cases have also contributed to greater public reporting of suspicious bats. Earlier this year, a Wisconsin teen made international headlines for being the first person known to survive bat rabies without a vaccination.
Jeanna Giese was infected in September 2004 when a bat bit her hand at church. She did not seek medical attention until a month later, when rabies symptoms appeared, including fatigue, tingling and numbness in her hand.
Doctors gave her an experimental drug treatment and induced a coma to fight off the infection.
But the teen's case is an anomaly and the public should not be misled to believe that rabies can be treated after the fact, said George Matsumura, head of the rabies control program for Toronto Public Health.
"Rabies is fatal. That's why we deal with it as a high priority," he said. "If there's a bat in your home and you're able to catch it, don't discard it. Let us analyze it. Especially if you were sleeping and you awake with the bat in your home."
Heightened public awareness of bat rabies has meant a boom in business for AAA Wildlife Control, which offers bat removal and bat-proofing services to homeowners across the country.
"In the last two years, we've seen our bat work almost double," owner Brad Gates said.
"I think it's because bats are getting more media attention and the rabies situation is making people more concerned about having them live in their homes."
SQUEEZE THROUGH HOLES
Homeowners who want to keep bats out of attics should cover up any holes or loose vents, Stevenson said, noting bats can squeeze through a hole the size of a pinky finger or a pencil.
Unlike other animals in Ontario that carry rabies, such as the Arctic fox and raccoons, bats can't be vaccinated with baits.
So the province relies on public education to control the spread of the disease by these winged creatures, which are beneficial in many other ways -- especially for their voracious appetite for insects such as mosquitoes.
"Use common sense," Stevenson said. "If you see a bat flying around at night that looks like it's feeding on insects, odds are it's a healthy bat. If you encounter a bat that can't fly or is crawling around on the ground, then I'd be concerned about rabies, so don't handle it." Previous story: Duceppe stays in OttawaNext story: Hospital cleaners cry foul
