Hundreds may have been exposed to rabies at bat-infested cabins in Grand Teton National Park

By SEJAL GOVINDARAO and MEAD GRUVER Medical representatives are working to alert hundreds of people in dozens of states and several countries who may have been exposed to rabies in bat-infested cabins in Wyoming s Grand Teton National Park over the past scarce months Related Articles Arizona Nevada and Mexico will again get less Colorado River water in FACT FOCUS No taxpayers will not receive new stimulus checks this summer President Trump ramps up takeover of Washington s police department Here s what to know Solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US In the current era in History August power restored after largest blackout in U S history As of Friday none of the bats revealed in a few of the eight linked cabins at Jackson Lake Lodge had tested positive for rabies But the handful of dead bats identified and sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie for testing were presumably only a small sample of the likely dozens that colonized the attic above the row of cabins Wyoming State Vitality Officer Dr Alexia Harrist explained Other bats weren t killed but got shooed out through cabin doors and windows Meanwhile the vast majority never flapped down from the attic into living spaces Fitness officers thus deemed it better safe than sorry to alert everybody who has stayed in the cabins in the past few days that they might have been exposed by being bitten or scratched Especially when people are sleeping a bat bite or scratch can go unseen and unnoticed What we re really concerned about is people who saw bats in their rooms and people who might have had direct contact with a bat Harrist disclosed Friday The cabins have been unoccupied with no plans to reopen since concessionaire Grand Teton Lodge Company discovered the bat issue July Bats are a frequent vector of the rabies virus Once effects occur muscle aches vomiting itching to name a sparse rabies is almost reliably fatal in humans The good news is a five-shot prophylactic regimen over a two-week period soon after exposure is highly effective in preventing illness Harrist noted The cabins opened for the summer season in May after being vacant over the winter Based on the roughly reservations through late July physical condition authorities estimated that up to people had stayed in the cabins They were trying to reach people in states and seven countries through those states vitality agencies and in the incident of foreign visitors the U S Centers for Affection Control and Prevention Others who have not been alerted yet but stayed in cabins and this year should tell physical condition bureaucrats or a clinician promptly Harrist disclosed Healthcare agents were recommending prophylactic shots for people who fit certain criteria such as deep sleepers who located a bat in their room and children too young to say that they had seen a bat The Wyoming Department of Strength had no ongoing concern about visitor safety at the Jackson Lake Lodge area That includes a Federal Reserve economic guidelines symposium Aug - that takes place at Jackson Lake Lodge every summer The lodge company has done a fantastic job of doing their due diligence of making sure everyone that is coming in for that and for all other visits this year are going to be as safe as accomplishable explained Emily Curren Wyoming s society fitness veterinarian Three or four dead bats from the cabins tested negative and one that was mangled did not have enough brain tissue to be testable Curren explained All were brown bats which come in two species little and big with the larger ones more than twice as big Functionaries were unsure which species these were but both are common in Wyoming They typically live in colonies of to individuals Curren announced That s a lot of bats that we cannot rule out a vulnerability of rabies being in Curren mentioned There s no way for us to know for certain about every single bat that got into these rooms There are no plans to exterminate the bats Grand Teton National Park spokesperson Emily Davis noted Devices fitted to the building were keeping the bats from getting back in after flying out in pursuit of insects to eat they commented