Olympic National Park Warns After 1 Rabid Bat Hits Visitor, Exposing Others

3 articles · Updated · The Independent · Aug 13

A woman near Staircase Rapids Bridge was struck by a bat around 2 p.m. Sunday, and the National Park Service said she should seek immediate medical care for possible rabies exposure.
The bat was briefly caught in her hair and also swooped at other visitors, leaving officials unsure whether additional people had contact with it.
Olympic National Park urged anyone who touched that bat—or any bat in the area—to contact a healthcare provider and local health department, even without a known bite; pet owners were told to call veterinarians after direct contact.
Rabies is rare in bats—fewer than 1% are infected, and Washington wildlife officials say less than 1 in 20,000 bats has rabies—but bat exposure causes most U.S. human rabies deaths.
U.S. rabies cases typically total 1 to 3 a year, yet the disease is almost always fatal once symptoms begin, making prompt post-exposure vaccination critical.