How long does it take to get rabies from a bat bite?

How soon after exposure do symptoms appear? The incubation period is variable. It can be as short as nine days, however, the usual incubation period is 20 to 90 days. It is shorter when the bite is on the head (25-48 days) than when on an extremity (46-78 days).

How soon would you know if you had rabies?

The first symptoms of rabies can appear from a few days to more than a year after the bite happens. At first, there’s a tingling, prickling, or itching feeling around the bite area. A person also might have flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and tiredness.

Can you tell if a bat has rabies?

Just looking at a bat, you can t tell if it has rabies. Rabies can only be confirmed in a laboratory. But any bat that is active by day or is found in a place where bats are not usually seen like in your home or on your lawn just might be rabid.

How long do bats live with rabies?

“Hibernation for the virus is almost like putting it in freeze-frame or putting it into Carbonite,” said George, who is now with the US Department of Defense. As a result, even though the rabies virus normally kills bats in about six days in the lab, infected bats could stay alive through the long, cold winter.

Is it possible to get rabies from touching a bat?

In addition, people can t get rabies from having contact with bat guano (feces), blood, or urine, or from touching a bat on its fur.

What happens if you get bit by an animal and have rabies?

If the animal develops symptoms suggestive of rabies, it should be humanely destroyed and the brain sent for testing. If the animal is healthy at the end of the 10-day period, then no rabies exposure occurred and the person bitten will not need rabies vaccination.

How long does it take for rabies symptoms to show up?

However, in some cases, symptoms occur faster, that is within 10 days after someone got bitten. Some other cases, on the other hands, found out that rabies symptoms can occur even after years post to the bite. Once these symptoms develop, rabies is usually fatal.

What should I do if I get bit by a bat?

Wash any wounds immediately with soap and water and then plan to see a healthcare provider. (It’s important to know that, unlike most other animals that carry rabies, many types of bats have very small teeth which may leave marks that disappear quickly.