Human Exposure to Rabies Alert

The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department is working to identify a female musician who handled a bat while canoeing on Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) on or about July 13, 2008.  This bat was impounded, later tested and found to be positive with rabies.

It is necessary to interview this musician in order to determine her level of risk.  She is described as being in her 20s, about 5’4”, slender, with brown, shoulder-length hair.  Her name is unknown, but may begin with the letter “L”.  She told people in another canoe that she is a singer/songwriter who moved here from Miami, Florida about two months ago, and plays an acoustic guitar.

If you know this person, please call one of the numbers below:

Austin/Travis County HHSD Surveillance Unit
512-972-5555

Austin/Travis County HHSD Animal Services
3-1-1

Town Lake Animal Center Rabies Clerk
512-972-6007

DSHS Zoonosis Control
1-254-778-6744

Rabies exposure occurs only when a person is bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal, or when abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes are contaminated with the saliva, brain, or nervous system tissue of a potentially rabid animal.

It may take several weeks or longer for people to show symptoms after being infected with rabies, but usually people start to show signs of the disease 1 to 3 months after the virus infects them. The early signs of rabies can be fever or headache, but this changes quickly to nervous system signs, such as confusion, sleepiness, or agitation. Once someone with rabies infection starts having these symptoms, that person usually does not survive. This is why it is very important to talk to your doctor or health care provider right away if any animal bites you, especially a wild animal.

Here are some additional tips regarding bats:

• many bats enter homes, apartments and businesses through unscreened windows and opened doors—particularly when the weather is nice in the fall and spring
• bats will generally leave a building on their own, given the chance
• if you find a bat in a room, do not try to catch it (unless testing is necessary because a person or pet has been sleeping in the room while the bat was present)
• to encourage a bat to leave on its own, open windows, turn the lights on, and leave the room, closing the door behind you and keeping children and pets out of the area
• check the area every few hours to see if the bat has departed—it may take up to 18 hours for a bat to leave a resting place
• if you must remove a resting bat from a room because there’s no way to avoid  contact with people or pets, wear thick leather gloves and carefully place a wide-mouthed cup, jar, or coffee can over the resting bat, slip a piece of cardboard between the opening and the resting surface, then take the container outdoors to release the bat

• NEVER HANDLE A BAT—ALIVE OR DEAD—WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!

Thanks to help from the media—we have identified the woman who was exposed to the rabid bat on Lady Bird Lake. Our Disease and Surveillance Unit is now in contact with the woman. Thanks again.