Health flap as hot bat attacks on the rise

PEOPLE were warned to be alert for bat attacks in in the Hunter Valley and New England region north of Sydney yesterday as soaring temperatures caused stressed bats to bite and scratch.

Health officials said people in the area reported an unprecedented number of bat attacks on people, the national broadcaster ABC reported.

Two of the attacks were by bats or flying foxes infected with a virus similar to rabies, the ABC reported.

Public health physician David Durrheim said there had been seven attacks in two weeks, higher than seen before.

“Two of the bats submitted for testing have had the lyssavirus infection, so it is a real concern for those people who have been exposed,” Durrheim said.

He added that the unusually hot weather, with temperatures in the 40s, had caused bats to suffer ill health and be disorientated, falling from trees and getting caught in wires.

“People trying to assist them have unfortunately got scratched or bitten.”

Black flying foxes, or bats as they are commonly called, start dying when it reaches 42ºC. Grey-headed flying foxes die when it hits 43ºC.

Many bats carry the rabies-like Australian bat lyssavirus, which can be deadly to humans. Durrheim said that once it starts in the human body, it can’t be effectively treated. “Almost everyone dies,” he added.

Fiona McBurney, from Wildlife Aid, said experts should be called in when people see bats in distress. “Our bat carers are immunised and trained to handle these bats,” she said. |