I was stunned while watching World News with Diane Sawyer that they did not go into the disease affecting bats (White Nose Syndrome (WNS), but more important, all the negative sensationalism about bats.

Teen Dies of Rabies After Getting Bit by Vampire Bat in Mexico

Lets discuss this story in detail:

“”I got two shots in each arm and four shots directly into my stomach muscles, and then two months later, I was getting  follow-up shots every other week,” said Giroux. “It was pretty serious, but it was better than the alternative.”"

This sounds a little outdated. I was explained that it was fewer shots, not in the stomach anymore and there is one gluten shot with a big needle that will hurt, and the gluten is think so it will (forgot what nurse said exactly) make you uncomfortable and slight pain. To make a story worse, go with the outdated scarier stuff.

While most people think of dogs, raccoons or skunks as potential rabies carriers, bats are a major source of the disease in the United States, experts say. And on Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a Mexican teenager had become the first person on U.S. soil to die from rabies after getting bit by a vampire bat.

And if you click on the link, bats are a major source… You get:

In the United States, most rabies cases before 1960 were also in domestic animals, but today more than 90 percent of all animal cases reported annually to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control occur in wildlife, most frequently in raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes.

Odd, they just said bats and nothing else. That is odd isn’t it? Here are two ways animals react to rabies:

1. Animal has rabies, does not go insane and attack people. They just die from it. Unless of course you touch it and it tries to fight you off like any other sick animal would: Bats
2. Animal has rabies, they get insane, they approach and attack other humans or animals. This is a mechanism to keep rabies alive. raccoons, skunks and foxes.

Which would you be more scared of? I thought so!!

According to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the 19-year-old man arrived to work on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation in July 2010. After one of day working in the field, he began to experience fatigue… …and on Aug. 21, he died of rabies. …had been bitten by a vampire bat in Mexico, 10 days before arriving in the U.S.

OK, where did this come from? Seems like it was copied and pasted in the story. The person was bitten in Mexico by a bat that is only in Mexico…. I see then it goes on to the importance of this world wide. I will spare you the quoted text.

Experts say that as soon as exposure to a rabid animal is suspected, it’s important to consult a doctor and receive a post-exposure prophylaxis vaccine. The vaccine will prevent them from getting rabies, which is almost always fatal.

The paragraph before this, and this one, is talking about wildlife in general trying to get people to think it is about bats only.

But as this vampire bat continues to make headlines, it’s important to understand that there are bats already carrying the deadly rabies virus in the United States.

Along with racoons, skunks, foxes, dogs….. More hype! Just don’t touch a wild bat! or any other wild animal. If it is in category 2 I listed above, go inside.

In 2009, U.S. health officials tested 30,000 bats from several dozen different species for rabies. Dr. John Williams of the department of pediatric infectious disease medicine at Vanderbilt  said that 6 percent, or about one out of 15 bats, tested positive for rabies.

Why should this scare me? 6%? How about raccoons, foxes, skunks, dogs and other mammals?

“A lot of times, people don’t even recall being bit by a bat,” said Williams. “The bites are small and not particularly painful. But even if someone handles a wild bat, they should receive the prophylactic vaccine because bats shed a lot of the virus through urine and other secretions. They don’t even have to bite to infect.”

I have been bitten by a captive Big Brown Bats for animal care that have had thier rabies shot. I have my Pre-exposure shots and sometimes you do not feel it. I do not know if it broke skin, so if it were a wild bat, I would have to get a few more easy shots. (Because of the Pre-x). I never heard of getting an infection without biting. I do not have time to research it. I could see it happen if you had a tiny cut you didn’t know you had, or went in your eye or mouth…

Will Vampire Bats Travel North?
But experts said those changes are complex and difficult to predict.

Lets worry about this when IF it ever happens.

What’s needed is more environmental monitoring, including information about prevalence of different viruses in various animal species as well as data on land use, weather and so forth,” said Alcabes. “This would allow for a richer understanding of how transmission of viruses to humans, as in this unfortunate case, arises from changes in ecosystems.”

Yes, why are we so worried? Lets just wait and see if it even happens. Pre-exposure rabies shots are no big deal. 3 different shots. You may get sick like from shot 2 or 3, but it is worth the extra peace of mind. Then again, I am not concerned about getting the pre-exposure if I didn’t have it. For what I do it is a requirement.

So there you have it! More proof that the media like ABC News, Diane Sawyer and her editor just likes to get you scared and give you incorrect information.

Photo: Straw Colored Fruit Bat
Photo Credit: Copyright 2011, Eric Vogel. www.ecvogel.com