Guelph pet owner finds rabid bat in dog's mouth

A dead bat found in Guelph has tested positive for rabies according to the city's public health department.

"The bat was found earlier this week, dead, in the mouth of a dog," said Jessica Morris, manager of health protection with Wellington-Duffering-Guelph Public Health. 

"The dog owner took the bat to a veterinarian, who then sent the bat for testing to the lab in Ottawa, and it was reported back to the Ontario Ministry of Food and Agriculture as a positive result."

It is the first official report of rabid wildlife in Guelph since 2012, according to Morris.

Although there was no human contact with the bat, the dog had to be confined at its home for three months as a precaution.

• Another cow tests positive for rabies in Perth County
• Rabies investigations climbing steadily in the London region

"This is a reminder to stay away from all wildlife, including bats and stray cats and dogs," said public health in the press release. "Pet owners should also vaccinate their dogs and cats for rabies."

Fatal virus

Rabies is a fatal virus that is most commonly spread by wild animals like raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats through the saliva of the infected animal, usually through a bite.

However, public health advises that the rabies virus can also enter the body "through scratches, open wounds or mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and eyes."

If there is any concern that a person has come in contact with a bat, or if a person has been bitten or scratched by a bat, contact public health, a family physician or go to a hospital emergency department.

If a family pet has come in contact with a bat, public health suggests visiting your veterinarian "as soon as possible."

Rabid skunk in Perth

The City of Guelph isn't the only municipality to be dealing with rabid animals this week. Perth County's public health department issued a press release Friday saying a skunk located in Elma Ward, near Listowel, had tested positive for rabies.

This is the fourth animal to test positive in Perth County in 2017, and the eighth animal to test positive since December 2016.

• The first animal, a calf, tests positive in December 2015.
• A skunk located in Ellice Ward tests positive in April 2016.
• A cow from a dairy farm in Elma Ward tests positive in November 2016.
• A calf from a beef farm in Wallace Ward tests positive in January 2017.
• A second calf from the same beef farm in Wallace Ward tests positive in January 2017.
• A young heifer from a dairy farm in Elma Ward tests positive in March 2017.
• A second cow tests positive in March 2017 from the dairy farm in Elma Ward that had a positive test in November 2016.
• A skunk located in Elma Ward tests positive in August 2017.

"No potential exposures to humans or other animals has been reported with this skunk," said Dale Lyttle, senior public health inspector with Perth District Health Unit in a press release, but "this is a reminder that rabies still exists in Perth County and residents need to be cautious when they encounter wild animals or any animal that appears sick."

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources ramped up its rabies prevention practices in Perth County this spring, dropping small packets of rabies vaccine within a 8 km radius of the last known cases.

This September, the ministry will do additional baiting within 50 km of all confirmed rabies cases in Perth County