Asotin County health officials said they’re looking to develop a plan for larger-scale rabies exposure after several young children were exposed to a bat that tested positive for rabies last week at a community center near a school.
Environmental Health Specialist Collin Jurries was the only staffer at the Asotin County Health District working locally at the time of the confirmed case, due to a training that other employees were attending. Health district staff credited Jurries and the Asotin-Anatone School District with their prompt response in contacting children’s families and state officials.
“ We're gonna try to put together a template,” Jurries said at a Monday meeting of the Asotin County Health District Board. “So, if one of us isn't here and something like this happens again, it would be easier for someone to come in.”
Not counting the Asotin case, Washington’s Department of Health website lists a total of 25 confirmed cases of rabid bats — the primary carrier of rabies in Washington state —so far this year. That’s up from just 15 two years before.
The United States has also seen an increase in reported human exposure to rabies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Asotin, a second dead bat was later found near the first, said health district administrator Brady Woodbury. But he said it was too decomposed to test it for rabies.
Health district staff said they would not be disclosing the specific number of patients exposed near the school last week to protect individuals’ health information.
“Especially in a small community like Asotin, small numbers become even more important,” said Dr. Bob Lutz, public health officer. “It's more than one, but less than 20.”
Patients who were determined to be exposed were recommended post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP. Jurries said some children were recommended PEP out of an “abundance of caution,” given their age. In at least one case, he said, further investigation indicated a child had more contact than they had initially stated.
“They're young children,” Jurries said. “Who knows if they are lying about touching the bat with their hand because they don't wanna get in trouble or, you know, they're just young kids, (and) they forgot what happened.”
PEP, which includes an immune globulin shot as well as multiple rounds of vaccines, is typically stored in limited quantities and can cost upwards of $10,000. Insurance, including Washington Medicaid, covers the service, Woodbury said.
“Between St. Joe's and TriState, they had enough vaccines to start,” Woodbury said. “TriState did have to order some more.”
While rabies is nearly 100% fatal once symptoms develop, the disease moves slowly, Lutz said.
“There (has) been documentation of people who have contracted rabies from an exposure many, many months ago,” Lutz said. “Therefore, when we have known exposure or potential exposure, we are still willing to recommend post-exposure prophylaxis months out.”
Because scratches and bites from bats are very small and may go unnoticed, any bare-handed contact with a bat should be treated as an exposure.
The health district asks anyone in the county who had contact with a bat at any point in the past year to contact the Asotin County Health District at (509) 243-3344, extension 4539, to assess their risk and to determine if PEP is recommended.
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