Nature lover savaged by rabid bat while enjoying peaceful evening on her porch
A nature lover has to quarantine for 45 days after savaged by rabies-riddled bat while enjoying a quiet evening on her porch. Camilla Schumacher was bitten by the winged mammal at her home in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, last Monday.
She now faces a month-and-a-half of isolation in case she tests positive for the potentially deadly disease.
Camilla was attacked by the bat while sitting outside on her porch with her daughter Monica and pet pit bull Kane. She looked down to see two bloodied pinprick-sized holes on her ankle, and realized she’d been bitten, with the bat still fangs-deep inside her.
Protective Kane quickly seized the bat in her powerful jaws, with Camilla slapping it out of her pet’s mouth to keep her dog out of harm’s way. She sent the bat away to a lab for analysis, and took Kane to the veterinarian – who said that the dog’s up-to-date vaccinations had saved him from almost-certain death.
Camilla has also sought treatment for rabies, and shared her story with KOCO to warn others of the potential dangers.
She said: ‘(Kane) was being protective. She so sweet and so loyal. I think, maybe, it’s a godly thing that this happened so a message could get out.’ People who may have been exposed to rabies through an animal are treated with an injection in their upper arm or thigh.
Bats – an endangered and protected species in Oklahoma – have hit the headlines in recent months as a likely source of the Covid-19 virus currently sweeping the world. Scientists are almost certain the new virus originated in bat blood, although they are still trying to work out how it jumped into humans.
Coronavirus has so far infected at least 19.5million people worldwide, and killed more than 6.9million. The United States is the world’s worst-hit country, with five million cases and 163,000 deaths as of Saturday afternoon.
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