Focus On Vibrant Health – Can Bats Give You Rabies?

NORTH FORK, CA – We are told to never touch or handle bats or other wild animals. It cannot be this simple. How would the human species have survived all this time with such advice? Let’s look more closely at the issue of rabies, and whether you should be afraid of bats.

The Yosemite National Park posted a news release on September 2 about a dead bat found on May 18, 2026 that has tested positive for rabies. They are urging anyone who may have had exposure to contact the CA Dept of Health and a healthcare provider promptly. They also state that rabies is preventable with prompt medical care following a potential exposure. Prompt? Almost 4 months later?!

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) states that “Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease. It can spread to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by a rabid animal.” But rabies has not actually been proven to be caused by an infectious virus, nor to be transmitted by an animal that has simply tested positive.

Rabies is very rare as a medical issue. From 2020-2025, a total of 11 human rabies cases were reported in the United States.  It occurs mostly in third world countries, and even there it is not common.  Rabies is not inevitable after a bite from a rabid animal.  Some exposed people do not become infected.  But once clinical symptoms develop, it is often fatal.  Factors that increase risk include:

• A bite closer to the brain or spinal cord
• Deep or multiple bites
• Saliva entering an open wound

History of Rabies

The word rabies comes from the Latin rabere, meaning “to rage”. Ancient civilizations recognized that illness could be associated with the bite of an aggressive dog. In the middle ages, illness (including rabies) was often believed to be caused by curses, evil spirits, or poisonous vapors. In the first century Aulus Cornelius Celsus also recognized that a bite could cause symptoms, and recommended cleaning wounds. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was increasingly understood that it is the saliva of a “mad” dog bite that can cause illness.

In the 1880’s Louis Pasteur and colleagues took material from the nervous tissue of sick animals thought to have rabies, and transferred it into healthy animals. A toxic soup of brain and spinal cord from sick animals, also containing various chemicals, was injected directly into the brain of healthy animals. It caused many of them to become paralyzed and die within 2-3 weeks. No controls were done. Modern rabies research still uses this approach, injecting directly into the brain. This traumatization of an animal’s brain in no way simulates the bite of an animal in real life, nor does it prove that rabies is an infectious illness.

In 1931 Joseph Pawan of Trinidad hypothesized that infected vampire bats could transmit rabies to humans and other animals. He wrote a paper in 1936, “The Transmission of Paralytic Rabies in Trinidad by the Vampire Bat”. In it he claims that an outbreak of acute spreading myelitis in 1925-1929 on the island of Trinidad was caused by the virus of rabies. He did the same traditional research of taking brain and spinal cord tissue from sick animals and injecting it directly into the brain of healthy animals to induce illness. In this paper he admits that research has never been shown to prove that bats can actually transmit rabies. When he allowed sick bats to bite dogs, this did not induce disease in the dogs. He also noted that the killing of thousands of dogs in some areas of Trinidad failed to stop cases of rabies. Pawan even kept a bat in captivity for 161 days, and it exhibited no abnormal symptoms, despite that it had tested positive for rabies. Much of this is quite contradictory to his claim that bats can cause rabies in other animals.

What Causes Rabies?

There is no evidence that rabies is caused by an actual infectious agent. That does not mean that tissue damage in the form of a bite cannot cause illness.

The early symptoms of rabies are nonspecific – paralysis, confusion, hallucinations, and insomnia. Later stage symptoms include hydrophobia (fear of water) and hyper-salivation with foaming at the mouth. By the time the late stage is reached, the fatality rate is extremely high.

Symptoms of known neurotoxins are the same as rabies, including hyper-salivation, weakness, restlessness, paralysis, tremor, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and coma. This indicates that rabies is more likely due to a form of poisoning from a neurotoxin than an infectious agent. Such a neurotoxin can be introduced through trauma, such as a bite. Examples include the toxins of pufferfish and blue-ringed octopus. They do not actually produce the neurotoxin themselves, but it is secreted by symbiotic bacteria. Rabid animals could be in a state that produces a proliferation of such toxin producing bacteria. The hyper-salivation may be a way to rid the body of these toxins.

Much of how we try to explain illness is through theories that may or may not be correct.  To question the current theory of what causes rabies does not mean there has to be a proven alternative explanation.

Obviously, the vast majority of animal bites do not result in rabies. Worldwide, 99% of human rabies is said to come from the bite of dogs, but even this evidence is surprisingly thin.  In the United States, 70% of rabies cases are attributed to bats.  But how accurate can this actually be?  11 cases were reported in the last 5 years, and only one case had an actual bat that tested positive for rabies.  Most cases have very vague associations with bats.  Furthermore, the accuracy of testing is a whole different discussion.

There is a very high degree of uncertainty in the correlation between animal bites and the subsequent appearance of rabies, even when the biting animal has tested positive for rabies. While the mortality of clinical rabies is very high, the threat of death from the bite of a rabid animal is very low. If you get bit by any animal, immediately wash the wound well with clean running water, removing any obvious dirt or debris. Control the bleeding with firm pressure. Seek medical advice if needed, particularly if the wound is deep, contaminated, badly bleeding, or involves the hand, foot, face, or a joint. Or if any neurologic symptoms develop, such as severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, or confusion.

Remember, rabies is very rare in humans.  It is also not an infectious disease in the usual sense, as it is not transmitted from man to man.

How can we really know what causes rabies? Unfortunately, investigating the real causes of illness does not seem to be in the interest of those who provide money for studies. Rabies is just one example of a bigger issue. Our medical system is not about supporting health, but rather it is about treating the symptoms of disease or illness.

As the Yosemite National Park news release states, bats provide many benefits.  These include insect control, pollination, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling. Our ecosystems would not be healthy without them.  Plus, they are a pleasure to watch at dusk as they fly about catching insects. You do not need to be afraid of bats.  You can learn more about bats at Bat Conservation International.

You would be far better off to concentrate on things that will actually lead to better health outcomes for you and your family.  To learn what these things are, you can read additional articles here:  Focus On Vibrant Health.

Dr. Veronica Tilden can be your ally in having vibrant health.  She uses traditional hands-on osteopathy and helps you take responsibility for your health, guiding you to make better choices in your life.  She brings her 30 years of experience to her hometown at her office in North Fork.  You can find out more and schedule an appointment at DrVeronicaTilden.com.