Add The New York Post on Google Dr. Krista Edelman was having a strange dream about a small mouse trying to get into her mouth.
When she woke up, she was met with the horrifying realization that there was, in fact, a furry animal “burrowing” between her lips.
“I reach up to my mouth … and then I touch something that is kind of slimy and a little hairy and cool,” she said in an Instagram post, describing a half-awake state when she thought she was still dreaming.
She realized “immediately” it was a bat.
Dr. Krista Edelman, a gastroenterologist, woke up to find a bat trying to get into her mouth. Krista Edelman / Instagram “This bat was legitimately trying to burrow between my lips into my mouth, trying to get past my teeth,” said Edelman, a gastroenterologist in Richmond, Virginia. “I grabbed this bat and I threw it across the room and I screamed.”
Her husband, grabbed a T-ball bat — but from her training, she says she knew that wasn’t the right move.
“I knew we were supposed to try to catch this bat so it can actually be tested and see if there are rabies in its brain,” she said.
There are more than 40 bat species widespread across the US, and healthy bats avoid humans if they can help it.
But summertime is when homeowners frequently find bats in their home. The mammals often roost in the attic, and if it gets too hot, they’ll leave to find a cooler spot.
Bats can infect humans with a number of dangerous diseases. Famously, COVID-19 originated from the mammal.
Rabies is one of the primary diseases that can be passed from bats to humans. A vast majority (97%) of bats are healthy and good for the environment, but infected bats are responsible for 7 of 10 rabies deaths in the US.
Edelman was able to trap the bat in a bucket to get it tested. Krista Edelman / Instagram Untreated, rabies travels slowly through the body over months without symptoms, then cause serious brain and nervous system damage, leading to coma and death.
Luckily, the rabies vaccine is very effective and can be given to people shortly after they’ve been exposed. It helps the body kills the virus before it reaches the brain.
In Edelman’s case, the bat tested negative for rabies — but she still took action to be on the safe side.
“Because I had direct contact and hadn’t previously been vaccinated against rabies, I went to the ER and started the rabies vaccine series and received immunoglobulin,” she said.
Most importantly, Edelman wanted to share a PSA: “If you live in an older home, check those attics and chimneys! And if you wake up with a bat in the room and aren’t sure whether you had contact with it, don’t assume you’re fine. It’s worth getting medical advice right away!”
A post shared by Krista Edelman, MD (@kristaedelmanmd)
Not everyone who encounters a bat will even know a bat touched them. Bat bites, the primary way rabies is spread, can be very small and not easily seen.
Experts recommend proceeding as if there was a known bat bite if a bat was found where people were asleep, or there were children or someone else might not be able to understand or report a bat encounter.
Here’s what to do if you suspect a bat touched someone in your house:
