If you have a bat in your house and there is any chance that it had contact with a human or a pet, you should make every attempt to catch the bat without damaging it so that it can be tested for rabies. If you have any uncertainty, say for instance, you woke up and found a bat in your room, or the bat was in a room with an unattended child, a mentally impaired or intoxicated person, the same precautions should be taken. Catch the bat. Do not release it. Testing will determine whether or not the bat had rabies and will minimize the need for unnecessary post-exposure treatment. 

 

If you see a bat in your home and you are certain that there was no contact with a person or pet (for example, you saw the bat fly in the house and never lost sight of it), close the room and closet doors, open the windows and watch the bat until it leaves.

 

Confine the bat to one room by closing all windows and doors, turn on the lights, and wait for the bat to land. Wearing gloves approach the bat slowly, cover the bat with a coffee can or similar container and slide a piece of cardboard or lid under the can trapping the bat. Following this procedure will insure that bat’s brain remains intact, which is necessary for testing. Tape the cardboard or lid to the container. Place the container in a cooler of ice and call the Environmental Health Division of the Broome County Health Department during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at 607.778.2887 to make arrangements for the bat to be tested for rabies. For emergency guidance during non-normal business hours, call Broome County Dispatch at 607.778.1911. A dispatcher will then contact Broome County Health Department staff for you. If you are unable or unwilling to capture the bat, see your local yellow pages for pest and wildlife handlers.

  

To view a video on how to catch a bat safety, please visit the New York State Department Health website at www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/zoonoses/rabies/. For additional rabies information, visit the Broome County Health Department’s website at www.gobroomecounty.com/eh/rabies.