Health Officials Issue Rabies Reminder

State and local public health officials are reminding Montanans to be aware of the risk for exposure to rabies as summer approaches.

From 2009 to 2015, 162 animals submitted for testing to the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) were positive for rabies. Most of the animals were bats, some were skunks, and a few were other wild and domestic animals.

Rabies is a fatal disease. The rabies virus is carried in the saliva of infected warm-blooded mammals and is usually transmitted to people and other animals through a bite. Bats are a great concern in Montana because a bite may not be noticeable....