Bat Found at Elementary School Near Loma Linda Tests Positive for Rabies

A dead bat found at Highgrove Elementary School southwest of Loma Linda tested positive Thursday for rabies, a Riverside County Animal Services spokesman said.

The school was on summer break when the dead bat was found Tuesday, Animal Services spokesman John Welsh said.

A school employee discovered the bat on a playground, Welsh said. An animal control officer took the bat to a state lab for testing, and results came back positive Thursday.

At least three other bats last week near Redlands and Loma Linda, and officials in Riverside and San Bernardino counties issued cautionary statements.

On June 6, a 55-year-old man cleaning a pool in the city of Riverside was exposed to rabies when he handled a bat with his bare hands. Initial reports indicated the man was bitten, but that was not the case, Welsh said this week. The bat tested positive for rabies two days later.

On June 5, a dog in unincorporated Hemet was exposed to a dead bat that later tested positive for rabies, Welsh said. The dog had its current rabies vaccination.

On June 4, a bat that was dropped off at Chino Police Department tested positive for rabies, San Bernardino County Department of Public Health officials said.

The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health issued a Rabies Exposure Alert, noting its lab had confirmed 5 rabid bats in two weeks.

Riverside County Chief Veterinarian Allan Drusys urged caution if anyone encounters a bat, alive or dead.

"Let a trained professional, such as one of our animal control officers, remove and impound the bat," Drusys said. "That way, we can properly have it tested at a lab to determine if it has rabies."

Highgrove Elementary is at 690 Center Street in Riverside, south of Grand Terrace and southwest of Loma Linda.

For more information about rabies prevention, visit the Centers for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies or call the County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health, Communicable Disease Section at 1 (800) 722-4794.