STRAFFORD — Vermont Department of Health officials are urging residents to exercise caution after a person was bitten by a rabid bat in town.
The individual is being treated for rabies, State Public Health Veterinarian Natalie Kwit said in an interview.
Kwit declined to provide further information about the individual or how they came into contact with the bat.
Department officials collected the bat for testing Feb. 4 and notified Strafford Health Officer Stephen Marx a couple days later.
Marx promptly put up postings with safety information about rabid animals throughout Strafford including at Strafford General Store — formerly Coburns’ General Store — and the town office, as well as on the town’s website.
“Since wild animals move and interact with each other, a rabid animal detection means there is circulation of the virus and a risk of rabies from wildlife in the greater town area. All residents are urged to take steps to protect humans and domestic animals from rabies,” the post read.
Those steps include calling the Rabies Hotline (1-800-472-2437) if someone notices a wild or stray animal acting strangely.
“Do not let a bat go if you have any concern that you might have had an exposure,” Kwit said.
If someone is bitten by an animal, they should wash the wound with soap and water and contact their health care provider.
If a pet or farm animal has been exposed to a wild animal that might have rabies, the owner should contact their veterinarian, the post states.
Most commonly found in wild animals such as foxes, skunks, raccoons, woodchucks and bats, rabies is a viral disease that’s spread through the bite of an infected animal, according to the Vermont Department of Health.
Livestock and domestic pets such as cats and dogs can also get rabies. In Vermont, owners are legally required to vaccinate their cats and dogs for rabies.
A deadly virus, rabies attacks the central nervous system of mammals. Signs of rabies in animals include aggression, fearfulness, excessive drooling, paralysis and seizures.
In humans, symptoms range from nausea and vomiting to difficulty swallowing, hallucinations and partial paralysis.
The disease nearly always results in death once symptoms are detected, so it’s paramount that a person seeks medical treatment if they’ve been exposed to an animal suspected of having rabies, the Mayo Clinic cautions.
The Strafford bat is the second rabid bat reported in Vermont this year, Kwit said.
Officials identified the first bat in Enosburg, a town in Franklin County.
No other rabid animals have been reported in Strafford in recent years, Marx said, but rabies has been on the rise in Vermont.
In 2024, 66 animals tested positive for rabies, a 74% increase from the previous year. It was also a 69% increase from the 39 rabies cases reported on average over a 15-year period starting in 2010, the state Department of Health reported.
It’s not clear why there’s been a jump in positive cases of rabies in wild animals, Kwit said.
One explanation could be that there aren’t enough animals being vaccinated, she said. Twice a year, department officials carry out a bait drop, in which the rabies vaccine is deposited into sweet-scented bait that’s attractive to skunks and raccoons. But in urban areas like Burlington, it’s harder to vaccinate animals because there are so many other food sources for them to choose from, Kwit said.
There have been other incidents of people being bitten by rabid animals in the Upper Valley in recent years.
Last summer, a rabid fox attacked two adults in downtown White River Junction, biting one and touching the other.
Both people underwent treatment for rabies, the Valley News reported last June. A game warden captured the fox and sent it to the Vermont Department of Health, where it tested positive for rabies.
Last April, the U.S Department of Agriculture, which partners with Vermont Department of Health, collected a dead raccoon that tested positive for rabies in Bradford, Vermont.
And in 2024, multiple people reported seeing a potentially rabid fox on Mount Tom in Woodstock.
On the New Hampshire side of the Upper Valley, a rabid fox also attacked a mother and son in Enfield last August. The woman’s husband killed the fox the same day, and the fox tested positive for rabies a few days later.
Last year, 28 animals out of 605 tested positive for rabies in New Hampshire, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Positive cases for rabies have generally been similar in New Hampshire and Vermont. In 2024, 40 animals out of 628 tested positive in New Hampshire, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
