RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Bat Problem Closes School

An Upstate elementary school remained closed on Friday as district officials try to make sure that a bat problem has been solved.

Fountain Inn Elementary dismissed early on Thursday after a bat got into one of the classrooms, one day after a bat removal expert got more than 300 bats out of the building.

On Friday, school district officials met with a bat expert from Clemson University to find out how to treat and control the Mexican free-tailed bats.

Bat removal specialists also did a walk-through of the school on Friday to make sure all entrance points have been secured to keep bats from getting back into the building.

Two bats that were found inside the building both tested negative for rabies.

School officials said all of the bat droppings were found outside of the building. The droppings were removed with a high-strength cleanser that school officials said is nontoxic for children.

South Carolina Department of Environmental Control spokesman Adam Myrick said the bat problem started at Fountain Inn Elementary about three weeks ago.

District officials say they didn't close the school initially because they felt they had the bat problem under control. They said the public hasn't been privy to what was going on behind the scenes.

District officials said they didn't feel the need to dismiss or close school until a bat disrupted a music class Thursday.

Officials will continue to monitor the building this weekend to see if any other bats are still inside.

Director of Communications Oby Lyles said specialists don’t think there are bats still inside the building, but they aren't 100 percent sure.

Lyles said, “We feel like we've done everything we can to address the problem. It's no different than at your own home. It's very difficult to get rid of bats, but we feel like we're making every effort we can to do that.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rabies Death Heightens Awareness of Virus in Bats

Historically, rabies came with a warning.

A dog or other infected animal, staggering, perhaps foaming at the mouth, would launch an attack for no apparent reason.

Seeing this, people knew to back away.

Pet vaccinations and prompt medical treatment have all but eliminated human loss of life due to rabies. Until last week, the last death due to rabies in Massachusetts was recorded in 1935.

But a Barnstable man died Monday in a Boston hospital, the victim of an attack which came in a way for which little or no warning or protection exists.

A rabid bat likely got into his house and bit him, perhaps without his even being aware of it because such bites can have the size and appearance of a pin prick.

Kevin Galvin, 63, of the Barnstable village of Marstons Mills died Monday at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Cape Cod Times. State and local public health officials would not confirm the cause of death, The Times reported.

His obituary did not specify a cause of death, but the Times obtained his death certificate at Boston City Hall on Friday. The certificate listed rabies encephalitis as the cause of death.

Since 1995, rabid bats have been responsible for 32 of the 33 cases of rabies in those contracted the illness in this country and died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Nevertheless, simply finding a bat in your home “should not necessarily be a cause for alarm and does not necessarily mean that an exposure to rabies has occurred,” said Jennifer L. Manley, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health. “Less than 1 percent of bats in the wild are likely to be infected with rabies at any given time.”

Rabies Signs and Symptom

• CDC: What are the signs and symptoms of rabies?

Rabies, which attacks the central nervous system of an infected person or animal, is caused by a virus spread through saliva. The illness has been known for at least 4,000 years.

Rabies in bats was first detected in Massachusetts in 1961. Raccoon rabies appeared in Massachusetts in 1992, and that form has also spread to skunks and foxes.

The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 annually in the early 1900s to one or two a year now.

Modern-day treatment following an exposure to the virus is nearly 100 percent effective. However, if the infection goes untreated, as it did with the man in Barnstable, once the symptoms appear, rabies is nearly always fatal.

In December, a Montague man was bitten by a fox that tested positive for rabies. However, treatment, which involves a series of shots, was immediate, and the man is expected to recover.

According to the Centers for Disease Control website, “In the United States, human fatalities associated with rabies occur in people who fail to seek medical assistance, usually because they were unaware of their exposure.”

That is what makes a bite or scratch from a rabid bat such a concern; it may go unnoticed because bat teeth are small and razor sharp, and a bite or scratch may leave a barely visible mark.

While bat populations have been declining in the region because of a fungal infection that afflicts them called white-nose syndrome, bats, such as the little brown bat, are still abundant, and they often seek shelter in homes to overwinter and can emerge in living areas.

In 2010, nearly 700 bats that were found dead or captured in homes were submitted to the state lab for testing, and about 2 percent were found to be rabid. Bats living in the wild are thought to have a lower rate of infection.

Manley said, “Any direct contact with a bat should be evaluated for an exposure.”

“In addition, situations in which a bat bite might go undetected should also be evaluated as possible exposures,” she said. “Such situations include finding a bat in the same room as a deeply sleeping person, an unattended child, a mentally incapacitated individual, an intoxicated person or a pet.”

And if you are bitten or scratched by any animal, state health officials advise washing the wound with soap and water for 10 minutes and then calling your health care provider to determine if you need to be treated for a rabies exposure.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bat in Box Prompts Rabies Concern, Health Department Says Man Showed Bat to People Last Week

An unusual sight in downtown Providence last week as an unidentified man was in Kennedy Plaza, showing off a bat he had in a box.

It happened around 8:45 in the morning on January 23rd.

"This bat, we don't know if it had rabies or not", says Peter Hanney, Department of Health spokesperson. "So out of an abundance of caution we're asking people to please give us a call at the Department of Health."

Health officials were first alerted to the incident by a health care provider who treated two people who came in contact with the bat.

"Two individuals were treated, one for a bat bite and the other for suspected rabies exposure. They informed the health care provider that they received this from a bat in a box from an individual in Kennedy Plaza," adds Hanney.

Health officials say they're concerned about the incident because five percent of all bats have rabies and bat rabies is extremely contagious.

"There's different types of rabies, and the bat strain is really contagious. It doesn't need to be from a bite. It can be just from the saliva if it gets into any mucous membranes or small cuts that you may have on you, you can contract rabies that way too. left untreated it is deadly," says Hanney.

The unidentified man who originally had the bat in a box is in his 50's, about six feet tall with a beard and he was wearing glasses at the time.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bats Disturbing High School

They're baaack. Bats are lurking in a Charlotte-area high school and it's not the first time.

Students first spotted one bat in a classroom at North Mecklenburg High School before Christmas break. The building was evacuated and the problem was supposedly taken care of. But Monday morning before school, a staffer found another one.

The N Hall is a building on campus that normally houses six classes. It’s closed and quarantined after the health department removed eight bats from inside.

Senior Guy McCrary admitted he’s grossed out. Other students are, too. But they’re not surprised because North Mecklenburg High is 60-years-old.

“It does freak you out. Bats, rabbits, cockroaches, mice—what’s next,” he added.

“They keep finding more and more. I don't feel safe with my daughter back in that hall,” said one student’s mother, who did not want to be identified.

Principal Matt Hayes says when they closed the hole the first time around, some bats were trapped inside.

“By closing the hole, other bats were hiding. We had bats hiding. Now that we closed the hole they don’t have an exit point,” he said.

Instead, he says there is a one-way door to flush them out. In addition, CMS has removed all ceiling tiles to verify there are no other holes.

The problem, they say, is that bats only need a hole the size of a nickel to squeeze through. A private pest control company is working with CMS to get rid of the bats and students are expected to be allowed back in those classrooms on Monday.

A health department spokesman says they tested one bat and it came back negative for rabies. He says they don’t have to test all of the bats because no one came in contact with the others.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

click on image to enlarge

The customer gets an occasional bat inside the home. They have no attic though? Then they moved a vent pipe in the upstairs bathroom and this black debris fell out and it looked like mouse poop? I obviously told them that this is bat guano and there was a considerable amount. Then I showed them the stains in their soffets around the perimeter of their house. They never thought those stains were from bats, they thought it was rust or from the wood.

Based on the picture you can tell there is a considerable amount of guano inside the soffet. The bats were getting inside the soffet through the rake board siding which did not form a tight seal with the soffet. This very small and inconspicuous void was all the bats needed to use the soffet as their little cave.

EHS sealed all the roof line voids and installed one-way doors (bat cones) to allow the bats to humanely exit the soffet. We returned one week later to remove the one-way doors and complete the exclusion. Another successful EHS bat job and a very thankful customer!

Justin McDavid
Wildlife Specialist
Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA