City of Davis

August 7, 2009 - Rabid Bats Call for a Collaborative Effort

Contact:

• John McNerney
• 530 757-5686
• jmcnerney@cityofdavis.org

(Davis, CA) - Seven dead bats from a colony that roosts under the West Covell Boulevard bicycle overcrossing in Davis were discovered earlier this week by a local resident walking her dog. The bats were reported to Yolo County Animal Services, who picked them up and brought them to the Yolo County Health Department laboratory for testing. Of the seven bats, three were unable to be tested, and two were positive for the rabies virus. No human or pet contact with these bats is known to have occurred.

The Yolo County Health Department and the City of Davis have been working together to ensure that appropriate notice is placed in the area to alert people and to avoid any potential human or animal interaction with the bats.

“It has been great working with the City of Davis since we both want to achieve the same thing – keeping the bat and human populations away from each other to protect the health of both,” states Wayne Taniguchi, supervisor for the Yolo County Health Department Consumer Protection Unit.

“It’s a delicate balance we have to achieve when it comes to dealing with bats in our county,” says John McNerney, Wildlife Resource Specialist for the City of Davis. “Bats have such a negative reputation, and we want to protect these animals from potential human harm since they do serve an important role in our ecosystem.”

Yolo County health officials would like to minimize human interaction with bats for the sake of human health. “The person who made the report did exactly what we ask everyone in the county to do,” said Taniguchi. “She kept herself and her animals away from the dead bats and called Animal Services immediately.”

All Yolo County residents are strongly advised to avoid not only direct contact with bats, but especially with those that are sick or are showing abnormal behaviors, such as lying on the ground or being out during the daytime. Any bats, healthy, sick, or dead, that have come in contact with people, pets or livestock, should be isolated and contained for testing whenever possible. All bats found inside the home, regardless of contact, should be contained and reported. Reports should be filed with the Health Department immediately at (530) 666-8646 or Yolo County Animal Services at (530) 668-5287.

For more information about rabies control in Yolo County, please contact the Yolo County Health Department at (530) 666-8646. Davis residents may contact John McNerney for information about Davis bats and other efforts to protect local wildlife at (530) 757-5686. For more general information about bats and rabies, please view the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) informative brochure, which can be found at www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats.html.