Georgia family pays $70,000 for rabies shots after bat enters home

A syringe filled with a dose of rabies vaccination, foreground, sits on the counter at the Red Bank Animal Hospital.
A syringe filled with a dose of rabies vaccination, foreground, sits on the counter at the Red Bank Animal Hospital.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - A family of five is taking extra precaution by shelling out $70,000 for rabies shot after a bat flew into their suburban Atlanta home.

Karen Rigsbee is taking precaution after the bat recently entered her home, WSB-TV reported. She's not sure if anyone was bitten, but the Georgia Poison Center recommended that everyone be treated with vaccine.

"According to poison control, you may not have known if you've been bitten by a bat," Rigsbee said.

The center offers counseling on exposure to potentially rabid animals, including bats, and treatment for bites from such animals.

The television station reports that the vaccine would cost $14,000 each.

Rigsbee said her son caught the bat with an old fishing net and tossed it outside when Rigsbee's kids were home from school. She said the bat was flying around in the middle of the day, which was odd to her since bats are nocturnal.

The Georgia Poison Center told Rigsbee the bat likely flew in through the chimney and was in her house overnight. The center believes the family members could have been bitten while they were sleep.

"What we recommend is that every family member be treated with the vaccine. This is four shots over the course of a month, and this will offer protection," said Dr. Gaylord Lopez with the Georgia Poison Center. "If someone develops rabies, it's almost 100 percent fatal."

There are only one to two human rabies cases per year in the U.S. and most come from bats, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends "bat-proofing" your home by covering openings larger than a quarter-inch.

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