Rabid Bat Discovered in Berlin, Family OK

Camden County health officials report that a bat removed from a home in Berlin September 14 was positive for rabies.


The diagnosis was confirmed Thursday by the state health and senior services laboratory in Trenton, and the family was advised to get preventive rabies shots. Its pets were also treated by a veterinarian.

Bats only account for about 4 percent of rabid animal cases in the state, said Dr. Colin Campbell, state public health veterinarian.

Raccoons are the most common culprits, Campbell said, accounting for 75 percent of confirmed positive cases of rabies in the state.

The real concern among health officials is that bat bites are very difficult to detect—"They're quite small and make small punctures," Campbell said—and people sometimes don't know whether they've been bitten at all.

But even in those instances of a bat bite, contraction of rabies is rare, he said, with only two to three such cases appearing nationwide per year.

"In a lot of cases, the local Board of Health wants them captured for testing," Campbell said.

Residents who believe a bat has come in contact with their family should call their local animal control services and allow authorities to capture the animal and submit it for testing, Campbell said.

For families who are sure that the bat did not contact anyone in the home, isolating the animal in a room with a closed door and open window usually will do the trick, Campbell said.