Bats and Rabies


The aim of this page is to provide guidance to bat workers and other animal carers who come into contact with bats. For those seeking more general information about European Bat Lyssaviruses a factsheet about bats and rabies can be found on this page of the Bat Conservation Trust's web site.

Specific advice from English Nature for licensed bat workers is that they should not handle bats unless they have received pre-exposure vaccination and that protective gloves should always be worn when handling bats. The Surrey Bat Group endorses this position and recommends all those working with bats to ensure they are vaccinated. This is now available free of charge for all bat workers whether or not they have licences from English Nature.

In April 2003 the Bat Conservation Trust issued a series of documents to help bat workers address rabies related problems. These included advice on obtaining vaccination, best practice guidelines for handling bats, dealing with rabies enquiries from roost owners and sources of gloves for handling bats in a variety of situations. These documents can be viewed or downloaded from the following links:

Good Practice Guidelines
Rabies Vaccine FAQ
Advice for Bat Workers and their GPs  (important update September 2006)
Protocol for Bat Enquiries
Gloves

Anyone who is working with bats in the UK but is having difficulty obtaining a free vaccination should contact Dr Philip Mortimer, Head of Laboratory (PHLS), Central Public Health Laboratory Tel: 020 8200 4400 Fax: 020 8200 1569.

The Veterinary Laboratories Agency have been screening bats which have been found dead, or have died in captivity, for the last 15 years. This screening programme relies almost exclusively on batworkers to provide material for testing. So far over 3,000 bats have been tested, and as we know only four have been positive. In the light of recent events it is clearly more important than ever that we support the screening programme and continue to supply samples. If you do not have the address or forms with which to submit samples please download the file below which contains all the information you need. Apologies for the poor quality of the scan, we are trying to rectify this.

bat3.pdf


HOME