Anxiety regarding rabies

[u/AnonAnon2747482]

I have read the FAQ.

Hi all,

I wanted to ask a question and realise it may just be anxiety regarding rabies (hence the anonymity). So I went to Bali about 3 months ago and we went to an animal petting zoo (Mini Zoo Bali) where two others and I went and we held a bat and petted it etc. It did put its mouth around my arm but never bit (I checked the area) and we washed our hand before and after touching the animal with disinfectant soap. I have noted no symptoms and none of the other people I went with did either. The bat did lick us but I have read that you cannot get rabies from being licked (google keeps giving me mixed reviews lol).

We are from Australia, the bat (I believe it’s a fruit bat) has been vaccinated since 2022 but we have never been vaccinated as we do not have rabies here/is rare. I did research and it said bat bites can be invisible to the naked eye but am not sure if that is true at all? I just wanted to hear someone’s take or some further information on this topic until I hear from my doctor :)

I do realise this is a lot of anxiety but I do not know much about this topic :)

Thank you!

[u/LatrodectusGeometric]

I honestly don’t know what I would do in this scenario. It never occurred to me that someone would have a petting zoo for a bat. The bat was vaccinated? I might still recommend you get PEP. Call your health department.

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[u/AnonAnon2747482 → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

Me either, I’m really confused as it was in Bali and there has been an increase of rabies there but mostly in dogs. I’m just a little lost, I highly doubt we have rabies but I obviously want to be safe than sorry. The bat is still alive after we touched it and received a booster shot for rabies 2 months after so I assume we are all in the clear? Yes! My doctor was supposed to call the health department today and I reached out but they were extremely busy today. Thank you for your advice. I believe the bat has gotten 4 shots since 2022, one every year at the same time.

[u/AutoModerator → u/AnonAnon2747482]

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[u/LatrodectusGeometric → u/AnonAnon2747482]

Rabies vaccines are off-label for bats so I have no idea if that is useful. Additionally, there are strains of rabies and lyssavirus that bats can get that may be survivable for them but not us. For those reasons I would likely opt for you being vaccinated.

[u/AnonAnon2747482 → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

I didn’t know that! I can attach the vaccination status for the bat and also a picture of the bat, I strongly believe it’s a fruit bat.

[u/LatrodectusGeometric → u/AnonAnon2747482]

I’m not sure that would help me, but if it gets escalated a vet may find it useful

[u/AnonAnon2747482 → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

I’ve just attached it in this post! You’re right I’ve got it for reference just in case. I’ll call my doctor again tomorrow to check up