Public Health officials recommend that all children in a Brantford nursery, Ontario, get vaccinated with rage after a child found a dead bat and handed it to a worker last week.
Grand Erie Public Health (GEPH) is organizing a series of clinics where children can receive the rabies prophylaxis after the exhibition. The treatment includes a dose of immunoblobulin of rabies, plus four doses of rabies managed for a period of two weeks, according to a memorandum to parents and guardians that CBC Hamilton Vio.
The treatment is offered “due to great caution, given the presence of other bats associated with the” creative nursery of the minds, said Dr. Jason Malenfant, an interim medical health officer, in an email. “While nursery has assured us that children were always under supervision and, therefore, the risk of any other direct contact with a bat is still low, it is possible that young children cannot report reliably if they had possible contact.”
Last week, the nursery, which is located in the southwest of the city, Closed on August 11 After a bat positive for rabies.
Geph investigated and reported that two people had come into direct contact with the bat. He recommended that they receive treatment and give creative minds the approval to reopen on Monday Once a wildlife management company had taken measures to prevent bats from entering the building.
The nursery said that a live bat was captured and released inside the nursery one day after the dead bat was found. The owner Vicky McNabb said that no one came into direct contact with him. Creative Minds also said that the workers found bats outside in June, but there was also no contact.
Kim Stewart, the mother of a son who went to the nursery, told CBC Hamilton on Friday that he led him to vaccinate against the virus by the recommendation of his doctor, and knew that other parents and workers were doing the same.
Alena Lukich, spokesman for the Health System of the Brant community, said the Branford General Hospital team administered 10 vaccines of rage in the hospital on August 14.
It is difficult to know if a bat bit or scratched
It is difficult to know if a bat or not looking at him; It is also possible to be bitten or scratched by one and not feel it, said Environmental Health Geph Keith Corey in an interview.
“The rage is transmitted during snacks and scratches or by direct contact with the saliva of an infected animal to an open wound or its eyes, nose or mouth,” Corey said. “With bats, you may not really see the bite marks that have gone.”
The Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario (MNRF) said it is because bats have small needle -shaped teeth and claws. Therefore, any bat that someone has been exposed must be considered rabid unless it is captured and demonstrates negative for rabies, says the ministry in its website.
Corey said that playing a dead bat also presents a risk of transmission.
In general terms, Corey said, the risk of coming into contact with a bat is low. If he does, he said, consider whether he could have a bite or scratch or touch his saliva. If you think you could have done it, contact your doctor.
From there, he said, your doctor may recommend if you should receive rage treatment, which is administered in association with your local health department.
If you find a bat within your home or business, you recommend calling a wildlife management company to eliminate bat and capture it for the tests.
The percentage of bat rage is ‘bass’ in Ontario
“While the anger of bat tension is present in Ontario, the percentage of rabid bats is low,” says MNRF on its website, which does not specify the percentage.
In 2024, there were 90 confirmed cases in bats in the province. Foxes, skunks and mapaches can also carry the virus.
All the strains of rabies are dangerous and can cause the disease in any mammal, the ministry said. Once the clinical signs of rabies are shown, it is almost always fatal, he points out.
Since 1924, 28 people with reported cases have died in Canada, says the Public Health Agency of Canada. According to his websiteNine of those cases were in Ontario.
Last year, a child from the Brantford area died of rage in the first case acquired in the country of human rage in the province since 1967. The child had come into contact with a bat in another part of the province.
Geph has seen an increase in the number of incident calls related to BAT this year compared to previous years, said Malenfant.
“This greater awareness provides more opportunities to remind the public that rage is a preventable disease,” he said. “It is very important not to handle bats or wild animals and avoid any direct contact, and always contact a wildlife control service for the elimination of any of these animals. It is also important to ensure that pets and cattle are always up to date with their immunizations of rage.”
