Rabies

Some incredibly informative information has come out of this post if you can sift through the nonsense. Apologies for my incorrect statement OP. All the best.

Hope you get a negative result. Ignore the aholes x

Nothing to fear. Unless it did have rabies. 🤔

Good luck, @HuckleberryBlackcurrant
Hopefully a negative result for rabies.

Yes. This is why it's advised not to shoot a rabid animal in the head because it can spread a mist of infected brain matter.

Rabies is the closest thing humans have to an actual zombie virus (and may even be where the myth started!)

Rabies can be airborne.

@Engineerbynature

This has to be one of the worst threads I have ever come across on MN, in terms of the shocking replies. The level of scientific and medical illiteracy on display by many is absolutely terrifying.

Completely agree with this. I'd add that there is an obstinate and proud quality to the illiteracy, too: the lack of knowledge is somehow a positive quality.

Just remembering the time I found a dying/ dead bat on a path and stroked it
Then buried it when it died
Won't be doing that again

@Engineerbynature , Thank you for adding your experiences here.
It is embarrassing how utterly ''Head in the sand'' and irresponsible some on here are, wagging a finger at OP, saying her husband was wrong for killing it.

USA laws appear to exempt people from killing bats in this case.

'A bat may be removed or hunted if it is inside a building occupied by people &c'

Good luck, @HuckleberryBlackcurrant ..Thinking of you and your Family.

thank you for this. It’s much appreciated.

Isn’t the Uk a rabies free country?

But then there is also this - I can remember it happening as I’m local to the area.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/nov/25/kirstyscott

I'm amazed at the number of people who didn't know about rabies.

Like I said I can't remember what sparked my fear of it - on reflection it might have been my grandmother's story of a rabid puppy when my grandparents and DF lived in India - but I remember there being posters warning of the dangers in pet shops, newspapers expressing fears that the Channel Tunnel was going to lead to the reintroduction of rabies to the UK.

Hope you and your family are ok, OP. Very best of luck for tomorrow's result and please keep us posted 🤞

Typically symptoms appear 20 to 90 days after exposure. Although some have presented sooner and other much later. Testing in countries like the USA for rabies is done very quickly if being done because of a potential exposure, usually with results in less than 48hrs.
This is a lot different to the time frame in the UK for sending in bats that have been found dead as the UK testing is for surveillance not for post exposure so there's no need to rush it.

@AxolotlOnions and others condemning the OP for killing the bat. The OP is in a rabies area not the UK. Bats are protected in the USA but the advice if you think you might have been exposed or it's in a sleeping area is to capture the bat for testing. The bat will have to be humanely put down to be tested, so in the end the bat dies. From the OPs description that the bat had not moved from where it was initially released chances are it was ill. No one is going to prosecute the OPs husband for killing a bat in this situation.

There is a version of rabies in bats in the UK called Lyssavirus, its not the same as classic rabies which is what the OP.is talking about. If a bat gets in your house here the advice is to release it if possible or capture it if not, if you think you've been bitten or scratched you still need to get medical attention, although the risk is a lot lower.

The issue is that even with explanation some still keep mumbling their own.
The inability to accept things are different in different places is slightly embarrassing.
Even countries with rabies present will each have somewhat different advice.

I mean, I don’t disagree (grew up in Ireland with an entire childhood of horrifying public health ads about the risk of rabies coming in via smuggled pet animals — anyone my age will remember the gruesome photos of the infected man foaming at the mouth and a dazed-looking golden cocker being lifted out of a car boot), but that’s what you are likely to get if you post on a site which is about 97% composed of people from a different country with a very different situation in relation to rabies (and bats, for that matter) about a US-specific problem, both in terms of public health guidelines about rabies AND about the disabling cost of vaccinations.

Best wishes, OP.

I am a former member of the rabies testing team in a US state public health laboratory.

This has to be one of the worst threads I have ever come across on MN, in terms of the shocking replies. The level of scientific and medical illiteracy on display by many is absolutely terrifying.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publish very clear guidance for this exact situation. Testing and prophylaxis (vaccination) should be done whenever exposure cannot be definitively ruled out, including when a bat is found in the home. The guidance states that in such instances the bat should be captured for testing.

OP, you have done everything exactly as you should. You are working with the local health department and following their guidance. Storing the bat as you have for testing is ideal, and will mean the lab is much more likely to be able to get a result.

Waiting for testing and results is a very stressful time for anyone who goes through this. I myself have also been through this process and had to receive post-exposure rabies vaccination.

I want to reassure you that the processes for testing and management of any required post-exposure prophylaxis are extremely rigorous and well-established. In the event of a positive or inconclusive result, the epidemiology team will work with you to identify exactly which members of your household should be vaccinated. They will also help you find vaccination services that will be in-network for your insurance. Your insurance will then very likely cover the majority of costs. The vaccination is 100% effective at preventing rabies when given in a timely fashion.

Ignore those suggesting that you should prioritize a bat over the lives of your entire family. Rabies is as serious a threat as it gets. You have absolutely done the right thing by taking it seriously. Anyone suggesting otherwise should be ashamed of themselves. It is a sad irony that people feel they can be so nonchalant about this horrific disease precisely because of the incredible success of modern public health management of the disease.

Edit :Bat not bet

If a bat has been in rooms where people are sleeping {OP's children} the bet needed trapping for testing as she has no way of knowing if her young sleeping children were bitten or not.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/02/480414566/bats-in-the-bedroom-can-spread-rabies-without-an-obvious-bite

I haven't said there is something I don't understand or comprehend. I've said I see no justification. Quite different.

Someone needs to get the CDC to change their advice as some people on Mumsnet obviously know more about it then they do.

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/animals/bats.html