Why does the cdc tell you get the rabies shot if you wake up with a bat in your room?

[Anonymous]

Why does the cdc tell you get the rabies shot if you wake up with a bat in your room? What if you wake up bat in your room but you didn't see it or hear it, and just never knew about it?

[normalice]

Bats have a near painless bite so you wouldn't know if it bit you and if it is rabid that's a problem. However, if you can catch the bat to get it tested, that likely suffices for making sure before getting the treatment.

The alternative is to take the very real risk of getting rabies. 100% chance of death if you get it without the vaccine.

https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=4u5I8GYB79Y

[purplepoppy]

I've just read the CDC website and I'm horrified. It says "If you find a bat in your home, try to capture it for testing. By testing the bat for rabies, you can find out if you need to be vaccinated."
That is the worst possible advice ever as it greatly increases the risk of you being bitten. Here in the UK it's actually illegal to do that because of the rabies risk without a licence.
Unless they're vampire bats or you pick them up bats will not bite.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Because Bats may transfer rabies.

And if you never knew about the Bat, you may wake up sick with rabies and never know how and where you caught it.

[Guy13]

That's probably a passed down mandate from WHO. World Health Organization. Bats and rural countries, you know.

[Anonymous]

I'd venture to guess it's to prevent you from possibly getting rabies...

[Guy__]

I wake up with a baseball bat in my legs.