Rabid bat found on Aurora school grounds

A rabid bat was found this week outside Oak Park Elementary School in Aurora, though no one was harmed, the Kane County Health Department said Friday.

A custodian found the bat Tuesday before school started, and contained it in a box until Aurora Animal Control removed it from school grounds. Animal Control tested the bat for rabies.

It marks the first case of a bat testing positive for rabies this year in the Kane County area, officials said.

“A vast majority of bats are helpful instead of harmful,” health department spokesman Tom Schlueter said. “If it’s obviously not behaving naturally you need to get in touch with animal control and make sure it can be tested.”

There were five bats that tested positive for rabies in Kane County last year, Schlueter said. Bats are the most common carrier of the disease in Illinois.

Rabies is a disease that affects the brain and causes unnatural behavior in any type of mammal. There has not been a human case of rabies reported in Illinois since 1954, the health department said.

Information about keeping bats from entering your home can be found at idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcbats.htm.