Health officials confirm rabies exposure in Fresno County resident
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Health officials are investigating a rabies exposure in a Fresno County resident.
The Department of Public Health tells Action News a Fresno resident is suspected to have been exposed to the disease after being bitten by a bat in Merced County.
County Officials said they are working closely with the healthcare team who is treating the patient. And reaching out to others who may have been exposed.
Dr. Geetha Sivasubramanian isn't treating the infected patient, but she is the division chief for infectious disease at UCSF in Fresno.
She said in most cases, contracting rabies can be deadly.
"We have had only a handful of cases, I'm talking less than five, only a handful of patients with rabies that actually survived," said Dr. Sivasubramanian.
The doctor said rabies is a virus that attacks the nervous system and leaves patients with brain disease that can lead to death.
In the United States, more than 90% of rabies cases are from a wild animal.
And Sivasubramanian said seven out of ten people who get infected with rabies get the virus from a bat.
The Department of Public Health said bites or scratches from bats often go undetected because they can be too small to feel or see.
The doctor said it could be a month to years before someone feels symptoms and they can vary.
"Headaches, mild fever, just feeling very ill, body aches, things like that. And then the neurological symptoms when they start can be fairly debilitating. So, they can get a lot of spasms, like involuntary spasms in their pharynx and in their esophagus," said Dr. Sivasubramanian.
The doctor said a person has seven to ten days after experiencing symptoms before it becomes fatal.
"It's very preventable, even after a bite. The post-exposure of care with wound care, with immunoglobulin, with vaccines is 100% effective in preventing the symptoms," said Dr. Sivasubramanian.
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