Three bats have tested positive for rabies in Oak Forest in the past two months, a sharp increase that local animal control attributes to increased public awareness and higher rates of testing.
The first bat was found Aug. 28 near the 15500 block of Rob Roy Drive, according to a city news release. Another rabid bat was found Sept. 15 near the 15300 block of Kilpatrick Avenue.
The most recent rabid bat was found Oct. 9 on the 6200 block of El Morro Lane.
“I think we’re just being more vigilant and residents are as well, with notifying us when they find bats compared to previous years,” Oak Forest animal control officer Jane Sharp said. “We are testing a lot more bats. I know Cook County in general have tested more recently than they ever have.”
Twelve rabid bats have been found in the county overall this year, Sharp said.
“This year we’ve gotten a lot more calls from residents,” Sharp said. “Residents are being more vigilant and more aware of the protocol they should be following.”
Last year, Oak Forest only tested two bats for rabies, neither of which came back positive, Sharp said. It’s very important that residents are reporting contact with bats, because rabies is a deadly disease that requires immediate action, she said.
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“The specimens that we are testing are ones that have had direct exposure to either a person or a pet,” Sharp said. “Residents have called because they noticed abnormal behavior, the bat was like crawling on the ground during the daytime, just not acting correctly, so we’ll test those as well.”
Sharp said if people or their pets are exposed to a bat in their home, they shouldn’t release it before animal control gets there.
“If you do release the bat, we have no way to know if it had rabies or not,” Sharp said. “The head has to be completely intact because that’s what they’re going to be testing at the lab.”
Sharp stressed the importance of keeping pets, even indoor pets, up to date on their rabies vaccines. Cook County Animal and Rabies Control offers free rabies vaccine clinics for cats and dogs, according to the county’s website.
The city also encourages people to keep pets on leash when outside the home.
“After exposure, it’s too late for a pet to go get vaccinated,” Sharp said. “Make sure all pets are up to date, even if it’s a cat in the household or like, a ferret, something of that nature that never leaves the house.”
Humans can’t get proactively vaccinated against rabies in the same way animals can, Sharp said, so it is important for someone who is exposed to contact their normal healthcare provider or the Illinois Department of Public Health immediately for the post-exposure vaccine.
Once a person who has been exposed to rabies begins showing symptoms, the disease is nearly always fatal, so it is important to be treated quickly.
“If people have been exposed, they can go get the rabies vaccine from a doctor. Luckily, you can handle it on a person,” Sharp said. “The animals, it’s a little more difficult, so it’s better to be preemptive about it.”
The first rabies-positive dog identified in Cook County since before 1964 was confirmed in Chicago last year, when a vaccinated rescue dog had a marked change in behavior and ultimately was euthanized, according to the county. The source of rabies exposure in that case was unknown.