I heard thru the grapevine today...........

A NCWRC certified buiz run a call on a tested positive for rabies exposure call, did a inspection, charged the homeowner, and told them they would be back in September to do the job.

The homeowner, father and husband blew a gasket !

Interesting!

That is interesting.

I know I can get the permit to proceed with the right documentation in like 20 minutes and even closer if I am around a fax machine.

People before animals.

Robb same here. Two years ago the DNR denied everything unless there was a legitimate exposure risk and to verify that required the NWCO to contact Social circle AND Social Circle would contact the homeowner (aproximately 48hour turnaround). Last year we might as well not have had a blackout season, not a single denial. This year is running much smoother with a proper balance and faster turnaround.

Clearly the NWCO was not using both sides of his brain and whenever presented with a situation it pays to communicate a concern with your DNR types and seek guidance and let them deny such a action and not make the decision on your own.

The local Health Department needs to verify,document, and notify the local state biologist and situations like this move pretty quickly and make everyone look good.

Absolutely. I have even seen the PHD "evict" the homeowners in this type of situation while the problem is dealt with. Homeowners insurance would then cover motel costs until they could return. This stuff gets serious.... and regardless of how the wildlife regs are designed.... when public health is threatened there are special circumstances.

Does one positive bat mean the whole colony could be infected?

One may never know without lab results on each animal.

Rabies is spread by the saliva . These bats live in colonies and have a tendency to cluster in groups. A rabid bat from a particular colony may indicate others with rabies.

This is a call for your health dept.

I wouldn't want to wait three months either. This situation must have happened before. What's SOP?

Would you do an exclusion and seal or trap,euthanize and seal?
I'm thinking that if they were excluded they would move elsewhere and possibly spread the disease.

I agree fully Dave.

What's SOP ?

I would hope the state would insist on trapping versus exclusion. Exclusion is the law here however, common sense should however prevail in the permit & planning stages.

I hope I never have to make this decision but here in MT I can do anything I want,we have no bat laws. Ethics keeps me from doing bat work from June till early August.

There is also evidence to support an airborne rabies connection.

BigBob, I heard that too, but put me down as a Doubting Thomas on this one!

Not to dismis the theory Bob, but havent thoses incidences been centered around cave explorers ?

I dunno.......just what I heard

A GOOGLE search for bat cave rabies will bring up some interesting documents. One of which is found at http://bvs.panaftosa.org.br/textoc/WHO_LabTec_cap7_AirborneRabies.pdf There are more. And the CDC also has some information on the subject. One link is http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr57e507.pdf - One quote from it reads
"Two cases of rabies have been attributed to probable aerosol exposures in laboratories, and two cases of rabies have been attributed to possible airborne exposures in caves containing millions of free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in the Southwest. However, alternative infection routes cannot be discounted (105–109). Similar airborne incidents have not occurred in approximately 25 years, probably because of
elevated awareness of such risks resulting in increased use of appropriate preventive measures."
And, of course there are more.
Yes, airborne transmission may be possible. However, a lightning strike is much more probable!

Folks- can you please post links to some of your reference material? We get a lot of "less than factual" information posted on this forum.

EDIT: Fixed the link- I think.

No , I cant.......but my info came straight from the state vets mouth in Raleigh

You are welcome to call him to verify

Caving and crawling around in an attic is pretty close to the same thing.

Buzzard-
I got a call from a guy last week that had found a bat on the floor of his home. He had taken it to the Health Department for testing. The report came back POSITIVE. He called me for an inspection and advice on what he should do now. I told him to immediately contact his family doctor and report the possible exposure to him. I further told him that if his doctor did not recommend post exposure prophylaxis he should get a second opinion and should also contact the State Health Department. His doctor initially told him that since no one had been bit or touched the animal that no treatment was recommended. He told the doctor what I had said. The doctor finally conducted some research and ended up recommending the prophylaxis. Now the whole family and a few overnight guests are receiving the series. I sometimes find it hard to believe how much some Md's and Veterinarians are ignorant about the protocol for potential rabies exposure.

Ron,

Couple years ago I got involved with a tested positive for rabies bat in a home. I went to the hospital for a booster and they told me I didn't need one. Had to call the health department director who is a good friend to have them call the hospital to give me the freakin booster shots.

yep, a lot of MD's and hospitals don't know diddly squat.