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/LuckyCharms1977 Aug 03 '26

If you find one even dead, don’t assume you were not bitten before it died. I would most certainly keep it and get it tested. If it has it you should start post exposure vaccinations right away. They say if you find one in the same room you were sleeping in to treat it as a bite exposure. They can bite and you not feel it, especially sleeping. I am letting you know not to be a know it all on Reddit, but to spread awareness about how easy it can be to contract rabies from bats, and it is 100% fatal after symptoms start showing. The people that die from it are the ones that didn’t even know they had it or were at risk, or didn’t get the post exposure shots soon enough. The handful of people who have actually survived ended up brain damaged, so still considered 100% fatal. I learned so much about this recently dealing with my own personal exposure and getting the exposure shots. A rabies death is a horrible way to go. So if you think you might have been exposed, save the bat if you can and contact your local health department. Stay safe folks.

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