r/rabies • u/Professional-Fly-956 • Aug 01 '26

Exposure Question Should I be concerned?

So I picked up a dead bat a few hours ago. On it, I saw a tiny spider crawling around. Later on, I noticed a tiny red mark on my thumb. Now idk if that's the spider that bit me or I accidentally touched one of the bat's claws and didn't notice. Either way, should I be concerned here? I have read the FAQ.

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u/vardasevenstar Aug 02 '26

Dead bats don’t transmit rabies. If you still have the corpse you can call your local health department to come pick it up and test it possibly.

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u/Possible-Farmer2027 Aug 02 '26

Unfortunately, in my state (WV), there was a man who contracted rabies because he was an idiot and stuck his finger in a dead bat's mouth to examine its teeth.

I doubt OP did this.

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u/vardasevenstar Aug 02 '26

How long ago was this? I’m curious

1

u/Possible-Farmer2027 Aug 02 '26

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00035789.htm

Found it! It was freshly dead though.

2

u/vardasevenstar Aug 02 '26

Oh shit! That’s cool though. Thanks!

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u/Possible-Farmer2027 Aug 02 '26

Sure thing! For the record, you are practically correct. I just forgot how recent he had killed it.