The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District is asking the public’s help in locating a man who was recently exposed to rabies, but may not know it.
The man stopped at the CVS Pharmacy at Fredericksburg Road and Loop 410 on March 28th carrying a bleeding bat inside a paper bag.
Another man stopped to help and touched the bat with his bare hands to move it into a box. The bat later tested positive for rabies. And the man who touched the bat was exposed.
The man who touched the bat should contact Metro Health at 210-207-2095. He needs to begin rabies shots immediately.
Rabies is a viral illness spread through the saliva of an infected animal, usually through biting a human or another animal. Metro Health wants to remind people:
- Refrain from feeding, touching, or handling wildlife or unknown animals.
- Teach children to never touch wildlife – dead or alive -- or roaming animals. Tell an adult immediately about the animal.
- Call Animal Care Service at 3-1-1 or Bexar County Animal Control at 335-9000, if you or your pets come into contact with wild animals.
- Vaccinate your pet against rabies.
- If a wild animal is found inside your home or a building, keep it confined but only if it can be done without direct contact.
- State law dictates that any actual or potential rabies exposure must be reported to the local rabies authority for investigation and potential testing.