She woke up when she felt something on her arm. It was a rabid bat — and it bit her

A woman was asleep in her home when she awoke to the feeling of something on her arm, according to a news release from the Northeast Colorado Health Department.

She swatted at what was on her upper arm — and it flew across the room, the release states.

That’s when she realized it was a bat that had landed on her arm, the Fort Morgan Times reported.

The woman called the Fort Morgan Police Department, and officers got to her home at about 7:50 a.m. on Aug. 8, the City of Fort Morgan said in a news release.

As the woman was talking to police, an officer noticed the resident had a small wound on her upper arm, the city said. It was a bat bite.

An animal control officer captured the bat that was locked in a bathroom, the city said, and it was euthanized and sent to the Northeast Colorado Health Department for rabies testing.

Two days later, the city confirmed that the bat tested positive for rabies.

“The victim was notified of the possible exposure to the disease,” the release states.

Earlier this week, the health department said the woman has started post-exposure prophylaxis. That treatment includes one dose of immune globuline and four doses of a rabies vaccine throughout a two-week period, according to the Centers for Disease and Control.

“Current vaccines are relatively painless and are given in your arm, like a flu or tetanus vaccine,” the CDC said.

The woman’s pets did not need treatment as they were current on their rabies vaccination, the health department said. If they were not current on those vaccines, the department would have recommended the pets be euthanized.

The Colorado city said it has responded to “several bat calls” this summer, but this was the first rabid bat.

In another Colorado city, 21 different people needed rabies shots after giving a baby raccoon lots of human attention last month.

Earlier this summer, a Florida woman was undergoing rabies treatment after “she found a small rabid bat clinging to her arm,” the Bradenton Herald reported. The woman squished the rabid bat with a towel.

This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 11:08 AM.