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FROM STAFF REPORTS

MEADOWLAKES — City officials are urging residents to beware of wild animals acting abnormally and take precautions to protect themselves and their pets after two bats found in Meadowlakes tested positive for rabies.

In a rabies alert issued Aug. 9, officials stated the Meadowlakes Animal Control Officer had located two bats — one on Marion Street and the other on Broodmoor Street. The officer submitted the bats for rabies testing, and results came back positive for both.

Meadowlakes officials are reminding residents to keep their pets on a leash when outside or in a fenced area to limit possible contact with wild animals. Pets also should be vaccinated for rabies.

It’s also a good idea to not keep pet food and even water outside when your pet isn’t in the yard or during the night as these could attract animals such as raccoons and skunks, which can carry the rabies virus.

The virus, according to the alert, is transmitted through an infected animal’s saliva and usually spreads when an infected animal bites another animal. Though, the alert added, in rare cases, rabies can spread if saliva from an infected animal gets into an open wound or through mucous membranes in the eyes and mouth.

Infected animals might show signs of abnormal behavior such as aggressiveness, seizures, stumbling, and vocalizing.

If a resident sees an animal acting abnormally, they should not approach it but contact the Meadowlakes Animal Control Officer at (877) 816-8136.

editor@thepicayune.com

1 thought on “Two bats found in Meadowlakes test positive for rabies

  1. And yet our neighbor is still throwing table scraps over his fence on Broadmoor and nothing is being done about it.

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