{"id":211750,"date":"2025-06-25T00:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T00:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/211750\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T00:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T00:30:15","slug":"bat-with-extremely-rare-rabies-causing-virus-found-on-uk-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/211750\/","title":{"rendered":"Bat with extremely rare rabies-causing virus found on UK island"},"content":{"rendered":"

The injured bat rescued from a back garden in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight was found to have an extremely rare rabies-like virus, according to the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs\"AnAn injured bat rescued from a back garden on the Isle of Wight (Image: Defra)<\/p>\n

An extremely rare rabies-like virus has been detected in the UK after an injured bat was rescued from a back garden.<\/p>\n

The resident wore gloves when they picked up the creature and put it in a shoebox overnight at their home in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight. The following day, volunteers from the Isle of Wight Bat Hospital took it away.<\/p>\n

The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) says the bat was found to have been infected with a virus that caused rabies.<\/a> An investigation was launched by the Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) which found no scratches or bites to humans or animals.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe creature was found carrying a rare virus(Image: Defra)<\/p>\n

In the UK, there are two types of viruses that cause rabies in bats. They are European Bat Lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1) and European Bat Lyssavirus-2 (EBLV-2). This bat was found to have the former.<\/p>\n

The UK is considered a rabies free country, and Defra stressed this discovery does not change its classification.<\/p>\n

The Bat Conservation Trust said that while the bat-borne EBLVs do carry the virus, it’s not the version usually transmitted through dogs<\/a> – which is responsible for most of the world’s cases.<\/p>\n

Alex Morss, from the trust, said: “Rabies-related viruses have only ever been recorded in less than 0.3% of all bats tested since 1986 (59 bats of 19,000 tested), and in only two of the 18 bat species present in the UK, the serotine bat and the Daubenton’s bat.”<\/p>\n

She added: “There have only been two recorded cases of rabies viruses from an infected wild British animal in a human in Britain since records began – One case was in 1902, the other case was in 2002.”<\/p>\n

EBLV-1 was first detected in Dorset in Serotine bats in 2018, the APHA said, with 34 cases reported in the UK as of May 2024.<\/p>\n

Alex told the BBC<\/a> that anyone suspected to have been bitten, licked, or scratched by a bat should seek medical advice and reach out to the National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228.<\/p>\n

The NHS<\/a> states that people exposed to the virus can be cured if they receive a vaccination soon after infection.<\/p>\n

“There is no risk to human health if you do not handle British bats, even if they are roosting in buildings you use,” Alex said.<\/p>\n

“No action should be taken to disturb or harm any wild bats or their roosts. Bats are non-aggressive, shy mammals and will avoid contact with humans.”<\/p>\n

Bats should only be handled by trained and licensed professionals unless it’s a bat in distress that needs rescuing. Should you find an injured bat, it’s essential to use thick gloves and a face mask or covering.<\/p>\n

All 18 species of bats in Britain, and the roosts they live in, are protected by law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The injured bat rescued from a back garden in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight was found to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[933,2207,84396,70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-211750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-hospitals","10":"tag-rabies","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114741184346198459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}