In Alaska, where many people might be unaware of bats’ existence, there are risks that the flying nocturnal mammals are carrying rabies, a recent bulletin from the state Department of Health advised.
The risks are very small, especially when compared to areas elsewhere in North America, where bats are the most commonly reported rabies-infected animals. Still, there are some cautionary steps that Alaskans should take around bats, according to the bulletin.
To date, after over half a century of testing, only six cases of rabies in bats have been documented in Alaska, all in the Southeast region, said the bulletin, issued by the department’s epidemiology section. All affected bats were either dead or were behaving abnormally when found, the bulletin said. The most recent case was found last June in a silver-haired bat on Douglas Island near Juneau.
Alaskans who encounter bats should avoid any physical contact, the bulletin said. People should not use their bare hands to touch bats, even those found in homes, the bulletin said.
Any bat seen on the ground or acting abnormally should be reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the bulletin said.
Seven species of bats live in Alaska, mostly in Southeast, according to the department. The most common in Alaska is the little brown bat.
Most Alaskans may be unaware that bats live in the state, said Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen, the department’s wildlife veterinarian. Beckmen provided information for the epidemiology bulletin on bat rabies.
Unlike the situation in the Lower 48, most Alaska rabies cases involve Arctic foxes or red foxes, according to the Department of Fish and Game. And most cases have been in the northern or western coastal areas, according to the department. In the Nome area, for example, an unusually large number of rabid red foxes were found in the first four months of this year.
The different strains of rabies found in Alaska bats over the years indicate that it is not enzootic – meaning constantly present in the population – but likely imported to Alaska animals from bats traveling in from elsewhere, Beckmen said by email.
A different disease that has devastated bats elsewhere has so far not affected Alaska bats.
The disease, white-nose syndrome, has nearly wiped out some populations farther south. Though the worst outbreaks have been concentrated in the U.S. Northeast and the Great Lakes regions, a bat with white-nosed syndrome was discovered in Washington state in 2016 and the disease has spread there since then. More recently, the fungus was detected in bat guano in British Columbia, according to an announcement earlier this month by the provincial government.
While white-nose syndrome has not shown up in Alaska, “we are always on the lookout for it,” Beckmen said by email. “Since it is mainly transmitted in caves and our bats roost in crevices and not in large cave colonies, we are hoping we don’t have a high transmission risk if a bat does immigrate in carrying it.”
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