Raleigh woman shares warning after encounter with rabid bat
RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh woman is being treated for rabies after she found her dog playing with a bat that tested positive for the disease.
Corneille Little said the ordeal started last week when she noticed her dog playing with a bat. When she tried to move the dog, that had been pawing at the bat, the dog scratched her.
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Little boxed the bat and called Animal Control, which tested it for rabies. The test came back positive.
“Well, first I picked up the bat and put it in a box not realizing that it might be rabid, and then I put it on the back deck,” she said.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, rabies is a deadly viral disease that attacks the central nervous system. The Centers for Disease Control says human rabies cases in the United States are rare, with only 1 to 3 cases reported annually.
But still, coming in contact with animals with rabies triggers a series of shots, which Little is now undergoing.
“If you ever see one flying during the day or a specially see one on the ground during the day, don’t go near it and call animal control right away. That’s usually a rabid bat,” she said.
Little still has several more shots to go through, and her dogs are being quarantined in her home.