What to do after a bat bite: risks and treatment

Getting bitten by a bat is actually a very rare event. These are very timid creatures who have the capability to fly away fast. They use this defense mechanism when they feel threatened, knowing that they often won't survive in up-close contact.



Getting bitten by a bat might not even feel as if you have been bitten at all, and it might not even look much like a bite either. These are animals with very tiny teeth, and their bite marks are often compared to needle pin-pricks rather than the snapping jaw of a vicious little wild animal. It is highly unlikely that you will find yourself in a situation where the rat would or could bite you, but if you were to try and grab at it, attempt to hold it, or capture it in a trap, there's a good chance it would lash out if it were unable to get away.

A sick bat might also bite you. If a child were to find a sick bat on the floor, for example, and then pick it up, thinking the animal were "cute", it could easily bite the child.

If you are bitten, or one of your children gets bitten, and you think it could be a bat that caused the bite, it is wise to seek urgent medical attention. The bite might not look that bad. It might not even look like a bite at all, but it is still a good idea to get it checked out. While you are at home, however, you should immediately wash the wound with water and antibacterial soap. If you are bleeding, stop the flow of blood by applying pressure on it. If you have the bat captured, keep it captured in a safe container that it cannot get out of it (but can still breathe through) and advise medical staff. The bat can be tested, both dead or alive, for diseases, particularly rabies.

It is believed that less than one percent of the entire bat population in the United States of America carries the rabies virus, and it is considered extremely rare for the disease to be passed on from bat to human, but it is still a concern you will need to think about. It is a risk you cannot take, particularly when you have children.

Rabies can be passed on very easily when an infected bat bites a human. It is the saliva that transmits the virus form the bat into a human's bloodstream, and once it is in there, treatment is both necessary and urgent if the infected party wishes to survive. It can take between three to ten days before the symptoms start to show up. By this stage, it is too late for treatment. Rabies is a disease that must receive treatment BEFORE symptoms materialize otherwise death is near-certain. Luckily, if you seek medical attention immediately after you have been bitten by the bat, or as soon as you know you have been bitten by a bat, you can be vaccinated. This usually consists of one injection containing the Human Rabies Immunoglobin antibody, as well as five further shots. These are injected into the muscles that surround the bite itself.

If you are bitten by a bat, you will need to receive these rabies vaccinations unless you can have the bat tested for rabies and it tests negative. If you live in an area that is rife with bats, or you have bats flying regularly above your home / land, it might even be a wise choice to have yourself vaccinated against rabies, and your household pets too if you haven't already done so.

Learn more about Bats in the attic

How Common Are Bat Bites?
The truth is that bat bites are actually very rare, especially when you consider the large numbers of bats that live in each colony and the people that will live in relatively close proximity to bat colonies. The majority of bat bites won’t actually happen with bats actively attacking a person, rather they will happen if a bat is injured or ill, and a well-meaning person tries to pick up the animal to help and then gets bitten. Even when you think of the scenes in a movie like Batman, where thousands of bats fly past people, it is very rare for healthy bats to bite people, as there is simply no reason for them to want to do so.

Diseases Transmitted By Bats
There are two main concerns when someone is bitten by a bat, and these are rabies and histoplasmosis. Rabies is actually carried by less than 1% of healthy bats, but because most bat bites are carried out by bats that are ill or injured, then it’s possible that a slightly higher proportion of the bat bites in the country can actually transmit rabies. Histoplasmosis is a condition that is generally transmitted through bat droppings, but there is a small chance that it could be transmitted when handling a sick bat where the skin has been broken by the bite.

Finding Medical Treatment
In most cases people who have been bitten by a bat will be able to stop the bleeding quite easily, because the wounds are quite small and do not bleed an excessive amount. You should however once you have stopped the bleeding look to speak to your local doctor or walk in center, as they will then be able to arrange for the relevant tests to be carried out to check to see if you have contracted any diseases through the bite. You should also pay particular attention to any unusual symptoms that you experience after being bitten, and refer to your doctor if you start to feel unwell.

Dealing With A Bat Infestation
You do not necessarily have to remove bats, and indeed in some cases there may be certain legislation in place to prevent you from removing a bat infestation at a particular time of year. However, if you are allowed to deal with a bat infestation, the work is actually quite straightforward, as you will need to identify where the bats are getting in and out of a roof space or cavity, and then installing exclusion netting over these holes, which will mean that the bats can get out but then cannot get back in to the property. The bats will then have to fly away and locate another roosting spot, although in some cases they may still be located nearby if they can find another good roosting spot in the area.
Ultimately, bats are one of the most interesting creatures found in the United States, and in many cases they are very beneficial animals to have living in your neighborhood, as they eat a wide range of flying insects and mosquitoes. Bats also navigate using echolocation, meaning that they do not have very good sight at all when compared to other animals, which can make them vulnerable in some situations. However, every year there will be a small number of people who are bitten by a bat, and it is important not to ignore this if it does happen, as in a very small number of cases there can be complications which will need to be dealt with promptly.


Other bat information:
Bats in a tile roof: risks and removal process
What to do after a bat bite: risks and treatment
Bat Bugs: Risks and Removal
Bat Calendar: One Year in the Life of a Bat
Bat Hibernation: When, Where, How Long?
Bat Migration: Where Do Bats Go In Winter?
Do Bats Like Light at Night? Do They Like Light or Dark?
How Do Bats Find and Drink Water?
How many bugs can a bat eat each night?
What does a group of bats in your house sound like?
Bats on the ground: do bats walk or even touch the ground?