They're coming for you. (Just kidding, PSYCH.)
They're coming for you. (Just kidding, PSYCH.)
As though heatstroke, sunburn, Lyme disease, mosquitos and fireworks burns aren't enough to worry about this holiday, we have another for the list: Rabid bats.
The Free Press reports that rabid-bat confirmations are two-and-a-half-times higher this year than last. Most were found in Lansing and METRO DETROIT (Please think of a Dracula laugh right now.)
The Freep goes on:
Officials can't say yet whether the increased findings of infected animals means a greater prevalence of the disease this year, or whether it has to do with more people being more diligent about submitting suspect animals.
According to the DNR, the early symptoms of rabies in people may look like other illnesses: fever, headache, general weakness, and discomfort that may include a tingling or itching sensation at the site of a bite. These symptoms may last for days.
Over time, symptoms that are more specific to brain dysfunction appear and may include difficulty sleeping, anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, agitation, partial paralysis, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia, a fear of water. Once these symptoms occur, the disease is nearly always fatal. There are only 13 reported cases of rabies survivors worldwide to date, and only two of those had no previous treatment for rabies.
As you might expect, the usual cautions apply: Vaccinate your pets and use extreme caution around any wild animal, not just bats.
While the stories about rabies treatment our parents used to scare us with -- something like 20 injections directly into your stomach with a needle the size of a railroad spike -- aren't true, we know someone who went through it a couple years ago and it wasn't fun.
Also, as a public-service reminder, we feel compelled to tell you that bats are our benign friends, eat mosquitos by the truckload and generally do a great deal of good in the ecosystem. It's just a few bad ones that give the whole colony a bad name.
Have a happy holiday, worrywarts!
