Man bitten by rabid bat in southern Oregon home

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Officials say a west Medford man was bitten by a rabid bat last week after he found it flopping around in his home.

The Mail Tribune reports the unidentified man has started rabies shots and is not expected to suffer from the virus.

Jackson County Public Health Division manager Jackson Baures says the man had found the bat July 16 and was restraining his dog while trying to remove the bat when it bit him in the hand.

The bat was sent to Oregon State University, where tests showed it was the second bat in Oregon to be diagnosed with rabies in 2019.

Rabies is a viral disease affecting the nervous system and can be transmitted from infected mammals to humans.

Rabid bats are found annually in Jackson County, and the previous rabies discovery in an Oregon bat this year happened in June in Linn County.