Rabid Bat Spoils Woman's Breakfast
Friday, July 30, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A journalism professor received rabies shots after encountering a rabid bat while eating breakfast outside of a downtown cafe.
Cheryl Koski said she was eating at a table outside the Dome Grill on Tuesday morning when she felt something crawling on her left ankle.
"It was like being hit by lightning," said Koski, 47. "One minute, I'm eating breakfast, and the next, there's a bat crawling up my leg."
Koski trapped the bat with a restaurant tray and called animal control. It tested positive for rabies Wednesday.
Koski, assistant professor of journalism at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, said she didn't feel the bat bite her, but officials say it's possible to contract the potentially fatal virus without being bitten. She got three shots Thursday and will have to receive four more over the next month.
Julia Gill, epidemiology program manager at the Pinellas County Health Department, said it's rare for a rabid animal to show up on a sidewalk in the heart of downtown.
"This would be an unusual situation," Gill said. "However, these exposures can happen in rural or urban settings."
The health department did not find anyone else who had contact with the bat.
Friday, July 30, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A journalism professor received rabies shots after encountering a rabid bat while eating breakfast outside of a downtown cafe.
Cheryl Koski said she was eating at a table outside the Dome Grill on Tuesday morning when she felt something crawling on her left ankle.
"It was like being hit by lightning," said Koski, 47. "One minute, I'm eating breakfast, and the next, there's a bat crawling up my leg."
Koski trapped the bat with a restaurant tray and called animal control. It tested positive for rabies Wednesday.
Koski, assistant professor of journalism at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, said she didn't feel the bat bite her, but officials say it's possible to contract the potentially fatal virus without being bitten. She got three shots Thursday and will have to receive four more over the next month.
Julia Gill, epidemiology program manager at the Pinellas County Health Department, said it's rare for a rabid animal to show up on a sidewalk in the heart of downtown.
"This would be an unusual situation," Gill said. "However, these exposures can happen in rural or urban settings."
The health department did not find anyone else who had contact with the bat.
