BATMAN
09-26-2006, 09:33 AM
A western Iowa woman is recovering from the shock of finding a drowned bat in her tea mug — after she sipped from the cup all day.
The brown bat, about the size of two tea bags, was found a few weeks ago by a 60-year-old Woodbury County woman, said Chuck Cipperley, an environmental director for the Siouxland health office in Sioux City.
"I knew the person, so I knew it was no joke," said Cipperley, who took the call from the woman.
http://zooplankton.lsu.edu/nagl_web_files/nagl98_images/8_16_99/dead_bat.jpg
The woman, who declined to identify herself, told Cipperley she found the bat when she was cleaning out the mug at night. She said she put the bat in a plastic bag before alerting the Siouxland health office the next morning.
Cipperley said the bat was sent that day — Sept. 1 — to the University Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville. Results showed the bat did not have rabies.
State Epidemiologist Patricia Quinlisk said had the bat been rabid, the woman probably would have undergone a series of rabies shots, even though the probability of contracting rabies would be low.
The virus needs a break in the skin to enter the body, said Susan Brockus, state public health veterinarian.
Mike Pentella, program manager at University Hygienic Laboratory, said the bat was a first for the lab.
"We test many, many bats," he said, "but none that have drowned in a cup of tea before."
The brown bat, about the size of two tea bags, was found a few weeks ago by a 60-year-old Woodbury County woman, said Chuck Cipperley, an environmental director for the Siouxland health office in Sioux City.
"I knew the person, so I knew it was no joke," said Cipperley, who took the call from the woman.
http://zooplankton.lsu.edu/nagl_web_files/nagl98_images/8_16_99/dead_bat.jpg
The woman, who declined to identify herself, told Cipperley she found the bat when she was cleaning out the mug at night. She said she put the bat in a plastic bag before alerting the Siouxland health office the next morning.
Cipperley said the bat was sent that day — Sept. 1 — to the University Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville. Results showed the bat did not have rabies.
State Epidemiologist Patricia Quinlisk said had the bat been rabid, the woman probably would have undergone a series of rabies shots, even though the probability of contracting rabies would be low.
The virus needs a break in the skin to enter the body, said Susan Brockus, state public health veterinarian.
Mike Pentella, program manager at University Hygienic Laboratory, said the bat was a first for the lab.
"We test many, many bats," he said, "but none that have drowned in a cup of tea before."