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3 Bats Test Positive For Rabies In Olmsted County

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Dec 2, 2008 12:34 pm US/Central

3 Bats Test Positive For Rabies In Olmsted County

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) ― Authorities are warning Minnesotans to be careful around bats after three of them tested positive for rabies in Olmsted County this year.
  
The Health Department's Dr. Joni Scheftel says only one bat from the area tested positive last year and one bat in 2006.
  
She says the 2008 results don't necessarily mean there are more rabid bats out there, it's probably the result of a spike in the number of bats being tested for the viral disease.
  
She credits the rise in bat submissions to the story of a Monticello man who died of rabies after a bat bite.
  
Still, Rochester veterinarian Dr. Tobin Emrich says he's concerned because he's already treated two family pets for rabies because they were playing with infected bats.
  
Scheftel says the most important thing people can do if they touch a bat, or think they were touched by a bat, is to capture it and have it tested.


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