These football fans might be rabid — literally.
Health officials are warning Baltimore Ravens fans they may have been exposed to rabies when a bat landed on a fan’s shoulder during an Aug. 17 preseason game, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The bat landed on a fan’s shoulder sitting in the upper deck on the 50-yard line during the night game against the Detroit Lions, The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said yesterday. The fan brushed the bat off and it flew away, and no bite was reported.
“Anyone who has had contact with a pet or a wild animal that they suspect might have rabies should consult with their health care provider as soon as possible,” Kim Mitchell, Chief of Rabies and Vector-borne Diseases at the health department, said in a press release. “Rabies is a very serious disease that can be prevented with prompt medical assessment and timely vaccination following exposure.”
Bats sometimes carry the deadly disease, which is spread through saliva and most frequently transmitted through a bite. Maryland state health officials are urging any fans who came into contact with the bat be checked out.
While rare in humans — only one or two cases are reported each year — the Centers for Disease Control says exposure to bats is the most common way people contract the disease. The Sun said more than 200 animals, 40 of them bats, have been diagnosed with rabies in Maryland so far this year.
The CDC said that despite bats being the most common cause of infections in humans, most don’t carry the virus. tests conducted on a sample of captured bats found only 6 percent carried the rabies virus.
Early symptoms include fever, headache, and general weakness or discomfort, followed by hallucinations, foaming at the mouth and a fear of water.
Treatment for rabies includes an initial shot to stop the disease from infecting a patient, followed up by five more injections over two weeks, The Mayo Clinic said on its website.