Rabid bat found in east-Regina garage, another in city's west end

Colleen Silverthorn · CBC News

· Posted: May 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A bat recovered wrong a store successful eastbound Regina earlier this outpouring has tested affirmative for rabies aft being held astatine a wildlife rescue centre for 2 weeks earlier it died.

Then, a 2nd bat recovered successful westbound Regina successful precocious April tested affirmative May 13 for the fatal disease.

"Rabies is comparatively uncommon successful the chaotic bat population. Normally little than 3 per cent of bats transportation rabies," said Iga Stasiak, a wildlife wellness specializer with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.

The archetypal bat was recovered connected the level of a homeowner's store successful eastbound Regina successful mid-March, according to Stasiak.

The homeowner utilized a shovel to place the bat wrong a container and took it to Salthaven West, a wildlife rehabilitation centre successful Regina.

At first, the bat appeared to beryllium healthy, according to Natalia Slipak, the session manager astatine Salthaven West.

Slipak said the big pistillate bat was underweight and exhibited signs of stress, including biting and vocalizing, but different appeared normal.

"Just being vocal and occasionally biting a towel does not warrant maine sending them for testing," she said. 

But aft a mates of weeks the bat stopped eating and developed a tremor.

The adjacent day, April 1, it died.

The lone mode to trial for rabies is to analyse the encephalon insubstantial of a dormant animal.

"We sent her for investigating due to the fact that … we were concerned. Those tremors are not precise mean and the deficiency of appetite."

Test results confirmed the bat had rabies.

Rabies is simply a microorganism that attacks the tense strategy of infected mammals and is 100 per cent fatal erstwhile the carnal oregon idiosyncratic starts exhibiting symptoms.

The microorganism is transmitted done the wound oregon scratch of an infected animal.

Since 1924, determination person been 2 quality deaths from rabies successful Saskatchewan, according to the Government of Canada's rabies monitoring site.

Symptoms of rabies successful chaotic animals see aggression, nonaccomplishment of fearfulness of humans, paralysis and trouble swallowing.

In this instance, the homeowner didn't person nonstop interaction with the bat.

Salthaven unit are vaccinated against rabies and usage protective gloves erstwhile handling chaotic animals, truthful the rabies tests weren't expedited.

"The issues originate if idiosyncratic has handled it without gloves, suspects they whitethorn person been bitten, oregon if a bat is recovered successful a country with a kid oregon an impaired person," Stasiak said.

The 2nd bat was recovered successful Regina's McNab assemblage and dropped disconnected astatine Salthaven West connected April 27 with "no evident symptoms," according to the Ministry of Environment.

That bat died 3 days aboriginal connected April 30.

Tests completed May 13 confirmed the 2nd bat besides had rabies.

Stasiak said some animals were large brownish bats, the astir communal signifier of bats surviving successful Saskatchewan.

She said astir six bats trial affirmative for rabies each twelvemonth successful Saskatchewan connected average, with possibly 1 lawsuit each twelvemonth oregon 2 successful Regina.

Stasiak said anyone who suspects an carnal has rabies oregon has been exposed should interaction the province's Rabies Response Program.

"There is immoderate level of rabies successful the bat population, it's not precisely unusual, but the immense bulk of bats are steadfast and bash not transportation rabies," she said.

Vaccinate pets

Dr. Cathy Dick, a module subordinate astatine the Western College of Veterinary Medicine's tiny carnal vet clinic, said it's important that radical support their pets' vaccinations up to date.

"Even those indoor kitty cats that ne'er spell outside, it's inactive precise important," she said.

"If a bat gets successful the house, who's going to termination it? It's going to beryllium the cat. Well the bats that get successful the location are sick bats. So adjacent those indoor cats should beryllium vaccinated for rabies."

Mark Brigham, a biology prof and bat specializer astatine the University of Regina, agreed with Dick and said vaccination is captious successful preventing rabies.

"The champion vaccination against immoderate viral illness successful the satellite is against rabies."

Brigham said it's not known however bats declaration the disease.

"As a idiosyncratic we don't cognize however they get it. Anything that would wound a bat to springiness it rabies is apt to termination it."

He said animals infected with rabies endure a horrible death. The microorganism causes paralysis and animals foam astatine the rima due to the fact that they can't swallow.

While the lawsuit of rabies successful bats is low, Brigham said radical request to enactment distant from immoderate carnal behaving strangely.

"It's a horrible disease. If you get rabies you're going to die."

Bats nether threat

Biologists and veterinarians some hold that bats mostly don't airs a hazard to humans and are important to the province's ecosystem.

In Saskatchewan, the animals are protected.

People who privation to region bats from their location indispensable use for a bat exclusion permit, which is disposable successful May and September, Stasiak said.

She besides noted that bats are a large predator of insects including mosquitoes, moths and harvest pests. 

They're besides astatine risk.

Stasiak said bats are nether menace from situation nonaccomplishment and an invasive, deadly fungal disease called achromatic chemoreceptor syndrome.

"We request to equilibrium conservation with nationalist safety," Stasiak said.