According to Richard Ovcharovich, manager of environmental health with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, contact with bats and all wild animals should be avoided.

Rabies, which is caused by a virus that affects the central nervous system of warm-blooded animals, is almost always a fatal disease.

Senior public health inspector John Cannan further explained that although no bats in the Quinte area have tested positive for rabies, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t bats with rabies in the area.

Bats are wild animals and should not be touched, approached and kept for pets.

If people have bats in their homes, they should definitely not try to catch them.

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