- A bat has now tested positive for rabies two weeks after it bit a woman in Fremont while she was sleeping
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Its something no one wants to wake up to.
“A resident here in Fremont woke up with a bat attached to her hand, and it had bitten her,” said Jennifer Birkhofer, Deputy Chief at the Fremont Police Department.
And then the situation turned from bad to worse.
“Her husband in the process of trying to remove the bat from his wife’s hand also received a bite,” said Birkhofer.
That bat was taken in for a closer examination and after some testing it was confirmed the bat was positive for rabies.
While rabies isn’t common according to the CDC the warmer months of the year, typically starting in April, is when most cases pop up.
There isn’t much you can do to prevent wild animals from spreading rabies but you can help keep your community safe by making sure your pets are up to date on their vaccinations.
With up to date vaccinations the chance of your pet catching or spreading rabies is slim, the CDC reports just under 10% of its cases come from pets or livestock.
But in a scenario where you do find an animal acting strange or being aggressive the smartest thing is to get away and call the professionals to come take care of it.
“Any animal concerns you can give our non emergency number a call,” said Birkhof.
If you need to get your pet's vaccinations up to date there is a vaccination clinic that happens in Fremont twice every month.
It happens on the first and third Saturday of every month from 8AM-2PM at 309 W Jefferson road.
If you have questions about the clinic you can reach out to Omaha Pet Vaccination Clinic at (402)443-2006
