Bat colony checks in to hotel; 200 guests check out, unaware of rabies scare

Summary

Health officials in Wyoming are sinking their teeth into a meaty task. Over 200 people who stayed in a hotel in Grand Teton National Park between May and July may have unknowingly been exposed to rabies, according to Wyoming Public Radio. In an announcement on Friday, the National Park Service reported finding evidence of a bat colony in the attic. The discovery was made after there had been at least eight incidents in which guests encountered winged mammals inside the hotel. Now, the Wyoming Health Department is trying to contact all guests who stayed in a block of rooms under the bat's lair. Specifically, they're reaching out to the over 200 who stayed in rooms 516, 518, 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, and 530 at the Jackson Lake Lodge between May 15 and July 27. It was on July 27 that the eighth bat run-in occurred and the hotel closed the eight rooms. "Although there were a lot of people exposed in this incident, one positive about it is that we know who 100 percent of those people are," Travis Riddell, director of the Teton County Public Health Department, told Wyoming Public Radio. In Wyoming, bats are one of the two main carriers of rabies, the other being skunks. But bats are of particular concern because—unlike an extremely obvious skunk attack—people might not be aware of bat exposures. Inconspicuous risk The rabies virus generally transmits through saliva via bites and scratches, and bat bites and scratches are easy to miss. The most common bat in Wyoming is the small brown bat, which weighs less than half an ounce on average—though they can look larger due to their wide wings. These teeny bats, with their wee teeth, can leave bites and scratches that are not visible, do not bleed, and are not painful.