Published: August 01, 2008 09:34 am      

Bats in St. Ambrose staircase to be removed

Creatures roosting near day care; rabies testing confirms disease present

CRESAPTOWN — A rabid bat found in St. Ambrose Church in Cresaptown brings the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies this year in Allegany County to eight.

St. Ambrose has known about the bat problem since late June when some dead bats were found. Once sent away, those bats tested positive for rabies. The bats have roosted at the top of the staircase in the day care room. The church is working closely with the Allegany County Health Department and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to remove the bats from the church. Roughly 72 bats were counted coming out of the building.

Brian Dicken, director of environmental health at the health department, said the bats have chosen St. Ambrose due to the availability and the ingress and egresses of the building. Father James Kurtz, pastor at St. Ambrose and SS. Peter and Paul Church, is heading the effort to try and remove the bats.

The bats have caused St. Ambrose’s day care to relocate temporarily to the rectory meeting room. Kurtz is confident that since the problem is being taken care of in a timely manner, no children were put in danger because of the bats.

St. Ambrose has enlisted the help of exterminators Home Paramount of Cumberland to help exclude the bats from the building. The plan is to close off the entry and exit points at night while the bats are gone from the roost.

“We hope by next Monday it will be completed,” said Kurtz.

Rabies is a preventable viral disease that all mammals, including people, are susceptible to and is most often transmitted through the bite of an animal. The disease is nearly always fatal without proper treatment.

“We recommend that any person who feels they have been exposed to a bat at St. Ambrose Church contact the health department or their personal physician to discuss whether treatment is necessary,” said Dr. Sue Raver, health officer for Allegany County, in a press release.

The health department is sponsoring its fall rabies clinics to vaccinate cats, dogs and ferrets Oct. 5 at its building on Willowbrook Road and George’s Creek Elementary School in Lonaconing. Rabies vaccinations will be available for $5. For additional information, call (301) 759-5093 or log on to http://edcp.org/vet_med/rabies.html.