Bat tests positive for rabies in Pitcairn after biting 9-year-old girl

PITTSBURGH — A bat found in Pitcairn has tested positive for rabies after one child was bitten and several children may have touched it.

According to the Allegheny County Health Department, a resident brought the bat in after capturing it Monday near Second Street and Center Avenue. It tested positive for rabies Thursday.

A group of kids were touching the bat and passing it around when a 9-year-old girl was bitten. She was taken to the hospital and already received two rabies shots. She needs two more.

It wasn’t until Thursday that the bat’s test for rabies came back positive.

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Allison Calloway, the little girl’s mom, told Channel 11 that if it wasn’t for her neighbor, she wouldn’t have known her daughter got bit.

“As a mom, I’m just telling people to be vigilant. You know, because like I said, had I not known my daughter got bitten by that bat, that would be long gone,” said the girl’s mother Allison Calloway.

Police and health department officials contacted the parents of the other kids to urge them to get medical treatment. They believe there may have been more kids involved in handling the bat and parents are urged to contact the health department immediately if that’s the case.

Rabies is a virus transmitted by an animal bite or scratch. It is almost always fatal when exposures are left untreated. Any individual who is bitten, scratched or otherwise exposed to saliva from an animal should immediately cleanse the contact area with soap and water, seek emergency medical treatment and call ACHD (412-687-2243) to report the incident.

This is the second animal to test positive for rabies this year.

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Cox Media Group