🚀 go-pugleaf

     Last week, at dusk, a bat got into our house in Northern
Massachusetts, apparently down a chimney. It around flew for several
minutes before getting into a brief tussle with our new kitten, then
flew out a door.

     Here's the problem: our kitten had not yet been vaccinated for
rabies (she was due at the vet's only 3 days later), and bats are
notorious carriers.

     We called the authorities. The cat has been put in strict
quarentine in a guest room. After 3 weeks we're to call the animal
control officer again, and see what the next step will be if she's
still well.  (hopefully give it house privileges - we have no other
pets). So far, she's been acting and looking perfectly normal (albeit
bored).  The full quarentine is up to 6 months.

     What I'd like to find out, if possible, is just how likely it is
that the bat was infected. Public health types work on the worst case
scenario, and assume that bat == rabies. Clearly this is not the case,
or the species would die out. 

     While this is something that clearly must vary with place and
time, are there any studies of rabies epidemiology in bats? Am I
looking at a 10% probability, or a 90%? Are bats immune carriers?
How common are incubation periods of > 3 weeks?

     FWIW, the bat did not attack me in the time I was trying to get
it out: it was the cat which initiated hostilities. It was also dusk,
a normal time for bats to be active.

     Since I have a small daughter, and my wife is expecting, there is
a human medical angle to this as well - we don't want to destroy our
girl's pet or take a rabies series unneccesarily.

     This has been widely crossposted - here's my rational for the
choices.
	rec.pets 	Any bat experts out there?
	rec.pets.cats	Cat owners with similar experiences?
	sci.med		Experts on rabies?
	bionet.general	Experts on rabies and/or bats?
	sci.bio		Experts on rabies and/or bats?

	(this is probably a good argument for sci.med.veterinary)

     Followups have been set to rec.pets.cats, but I'll send a summary
to anyone who is interested.
						Peter Trei