National Park Service issues warning after California woman is bitten by bat with rabies

Park rangers are reminding people to avoid touching or feeding wildlife after a California woman was bitten by a bat with rabies. 

On April 28 a woman working at a general store in Death Valley tried to move a bat that was “behaving strangely” atop a garbage can outside the store, National Park Service said in a news release. The bat ended up biting her through her nitrile gloves.

The bat was taken in by the National Park Service and the California Department of Public Health to be tested for rabies and on May 2 the woman was informed that the bat did have rabies, officials said. 

The woman is now being treated for rabies exposure and park officials are asking anyone who possibly had contact with this bat to contact the Inyo County Health Department. 

The National Park Service warns that rabies is typically fatal unless it is treated before symptoms begin. Humans can get rabies from contact with the infected saliva of any mammal through a bite or a scratch, officials said. 

“People should be especially concerned when an animal is behaving aggressively or does not show a normal fear of humans,” officials said. 

Bats are considered an important part of the ecosystem at Death Valley National Park, with at least nine species of insect-eating bats living there, according to officials. 

“Typically, less than 1% of bats have rabies. Bats—and all other native wildlife—are protected within the park,” officials said.