Bat with rabies found in Riverside neighborhood

A dead bat with rabies has been found in Wichita’s Riverside neighborhood.

The Wichita Animal Control, which is under the police department, finds a few animals with rabies each year, according to Officer Charley Davidson. The bat was found last week in the 1100 block of North Perry. Bats and skunks are the most common animals to have rabies in Kansas, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department.

“It’s very rare in dogs and cats,” Davidson said.

In a news release, the animal control included a list of signs for an animal possibly with rabies:

▪ Loss of coordination, paralysis or difficulty moving

▪ Wild animals acting tame or friendly

▪ Sickly appearance

▪ Increased saliva or drooling

▪ Aggressiveness

Bats are more active this time of year, according to Kansas State University.

Roughly 70 percent of U.S. deaths from rabies came from a bat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers are in the low single digits each year.

“Rabies is nearly always fatal if people don’t get rabies (shot) before symptoms start,” the CDC stated.

This story was originally published September 17, 2019 at 4:33 PM.