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Health officials are urging Lane County residents to keep pets vaccinated after three brown bats tested positive for rabies this year.
Lane County Public Health is alerting residents about rabies after three bats tested positive for the deadly disease.
Oregon State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory confirmed the infections from bats collected in June and July.
This year, the three brown bats that have died in Lane County make up nearly a quarter of the 13 dead rabid bats found throughout western Oregon. The virus can be carried through saliva transmitted in a bite or scratch.
Fewer than 10 deaths are reported each year in the United States from rabies. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers it a serious public health threat because nearly three of four Americans live in a community where animals — including bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes — can carry rabies. The disease primarily affects the central nervous system, causing symptoms like anxiety and hallucinations and can lead to death if untreated.
Pets without current rabies vaccinations are most at risk.
“All pet owners should make certain their dogs and cats are vaccinated against rabies,” State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Emilio DeBess said in a press release. “When our pets are protected from rabies, it provides a buffer zone of immune animals between humans and rabid wild animals, such as bats.”
Jason Davis, a spokesperson for Lane County Public Health, said the department doesn’t know of anything specific driving this year’s bat deaths.
Rabies is endemic in the brown bat population in Oregon, and a handful of cases turn up every year. The numbers have fluctuated over the last five years in Lane County: According to state health officials, three bats were known to have died of rabies last year, two in 2024, none in 2023 and 2022, four in 2021, and three in 2020.
Davis said the deaths tend to cluster in Eugene’s south hills, where humans and bats share forested land.
Residents should never handle a live bat. If you find a dead one, use a shovel or scoop to place it in a bag rather than touching it directly. Call Lane County Public Health at 541-682-4041 to report it.
