06/19/2002

Associated Press

A 5-year-old Cottage Grove boy is being treated for rabies after a rabid bat flew into his room through an open window and bit him on the finger.

The bat was found in the boy's bed, said Martha deBroekert, a Lane County public health nurse and epidemiologist.

The family, who asked not to be named, caught the bat in a jar and sent its body to the Oregon Department of Human Services in Portland for testing. Results Friday showed the bat had rabies, deBroekert said.

(Photo Courtesy: California Academy of Sciences)

The boy began a series of shots that day, deBroekert said. Treatment consists of a shot of antibodies delivered directly into the wound, followed by a series of five shots in the arm over 28 days.

With prompt treatment, there's no risk of contracting the disease.

Of the 30 or so bats tested so far this year in Oregon, the Cottage Grove bat was the first found to have rabies. In 2001, four of 59 tested had rabies, and in 2000, eight of 73 did.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)