The Berrien County Health Department is warning everyone to watch out for bats.
The department this month alone, it’s been made aware of a dozen bat bites or scratches on humans, raising concerns about rabies. Epidemiologist Sara Palmer told us what to watch out for.
“It’s a viral infection and it spreads through your nervous system,” Palmer said. “It goes into your brain, and it causes a lot of damage and shuts down your brain. People with rabies will start off with kind of like flu-like symptoms, fever, headache. They may experience some odd sensations at the site of where the bite was, some prickling or itching or kind of tingling sensations.”
Palmer says the health department encourages people who encounter bats in their home to keep the animal alive so it can be tested for rabies. To safely catch a bat, you’ll need some supplies.
“Find some thick gloves if they’re available, something like leather or something thick that it’s going to be hard for a little critter with small teeth to bite through. Then you want to get a container to fit the bat, something that’s just big enough to fit the bat in and something flat, because you’re going to basically put the container on top of the bat when it lands, and then you’re going to slide that flat piece underneath to contain it. Then you’ll want to put a lid or tape that piece of flat material down to keep the bat in the container.”
The safest thing to do is avoiding contact with wild animals. You can also make your home less accessible to them by installing a chimney cap and sealing openings larger than a dime.
Palmer says in Michigan, most reported cases of rabies are in bats.
