Four Fort Collins residents are undergoing rabies treatment after being exposed to the fatal disease by a bat.

The exposure happened Tuesday in the 8400 block of Golden Eagle Road in southeast Fort Collins, according to the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. Positive test results were confirmed Friday, and health department spokesperson Katie O’Donnell said the residents are undergoing treatment.

If treated promptly, the disease is nearly 100% curable. Once clinical symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal.

O’Donnell said in a news release that the bat is the 10th animal, and first bat, to test positive in Larimer County this year.

Seven skunks, a mountain lion and coyote are the other animals that have tested positive for rabies. The health department does not regularly do surveillance testing for animals because the disease is widespread in the county.

“This is the time of year when we start to see rabies in bats and skunks in Larimer County,” health department medical director Chris-Nevin Woods said in the release. “It’s a good time to remind everyone to not touch wildlife and to make sure that your pets are up to-date on their rabies vaccinations.”

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The only other people known to have tested positive for rabies in the county this year were two people bitten by a rabid mountain lion west of Loveland in March.

Larimer County leads the state in the number of animals testing positive for rabies, accounting for more one-third of the 29 reported infections through Tuesday, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website.

Including the four Fort Collins residents, there now have been at least 36 people exposed to rabies in the state this year.

Last year, Larimer County accounted for 55 of the 163 reported animal cases of rabies, including 42 skunks, according to the Larimer health department.

Rabies is spread primarily by saliva through the bite of a rabid animal.

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Rabies tips

• Do not feed or touch wildlife.
• If you come into contact with a suspected rabid animal, particularly if you’ve been bitten or scratched, you should immediately talk with a health care or public health professional to determine your risk for rabies or other illnesses. 
• Teach children to observe wildlife from a distance and to notify an adult if there is a wild animal in the area or if they are bitten or scratched.
• Eliminate food sources for wild animals by not feeding pets outdoors; by closing pet doors, especially at night; and by tightly closing garbage cans and feed bins.
• Ensure that your pets, horses and livestock are up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations. 

Source: Larimer County www.larimer.org/rabies.

 Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

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