Dead bat found in Berthoud park tests positive for rabies, county health department says

A rabid bat found in a Berthoud park two days earlier tested positive for rabies on Thursday, the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment said in a news release.

It's the seventh dead bat found in Larimer County in 2024 to test positive for rabies, according to a database on the county health department's website.

The bat was found by a passerby underneath a tree in Pioneer Park, which is located at the intersection of Indiana Avenue and East Second Street in Berthoud, the news release said. The individual who found the bat reported it to the Town of Berthoud’s Neighborhood Services Officer.

The bat was tested for rabies and results received Thursday confirmed it was positive, Larimer County Department of Health and Environment spokesperson Jennifer Wolfe-Kimbell wrote in the news release.

Any people or pets who had direct contact with a bat in the area around Pioneer Park should notify the county health department at 970-498-6666. Transmission of rabies occurs when the saliva of an infected animal enters the skin through a bite or scratch from the animal. Having simply been in that park recently is not considered an exposure.

Six other bats found in the county, all in Fort Collins, have also tested positive for rabies this year, according to the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. The most recent finding of a bat positive for rabies in Fort Collins was on July 1 on the 700 block of Boulder Circle.

While rare in the United States, rabies is an “extremely serious disease that is fatal to humans and other mammals once symptoms begin to develop,” the news release said. “With prompt treatment after exposure and before symptoms appear, rabies can be prevented."

The county health department reminds residents never to feed or touch wild animals and to ensure pets are current with their rabies vaccinations. People who see a sick or injured wild animal are asked to call NOCO Humane Animal Protection and Control at 970-226-3647, extension 7.

Contact reporter Kelly Lyell at KellyLyell@coloradoan.com . You can follow him at x.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Dead bat found in Berthoud park tests positive for rabies, county health department says