SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Health officials in San Diego County are searching for anyone who may have come into contact with a rabid bat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
According to County News Center, the bat was found alive Friday in the Mombasa Island Pavilion and was collected by a park employee. No human contact with the bat has so far been reported.
According to the county, the bat was not one of the park’s collected animals and was delivered to the county on June 25. Testing later confirmed that the bat had rabies.
The county says the animal is the second rabid bat found in San Diego County so far this year.
“Human rabies is usually fatal without prompt post-exposure vaccine and treatment,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “There has been no reported human or animal contact with this bat, but it was found in an area where many park visitors pass by, and we want to make sure that no one had contact with it.”
Health officials say rabies transmission can happen from a bat bite or if a bat’s saliva comes into contact with a cut, abrasion, or mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose, or mouth.
Anyone who had contact with the bat should call the County of San Diego Health and Human Services agency at 619-692-8499.
