CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / HEMET
Public health officials in Riverside County are urging residents to steer clear of bats acting strangely after a 15-year-old Hemet boy was bitten.
The bat was rabid and the teenager was treated by a doctor last week after the bite.
The boy found the bat flopping around on the ground during the day, according to the county Department of Animal Services. When he tried to pick it up, it bit him. His condition was not known.
“If you see a bat during the day, something is not right with that bat,” said Sharon Fortino, assistant nurse manager for the county Department of Public Health. “They’re nocturnal feeders.”
Last year, Riverside County registered seven cases of rabies and it has had three so far this year.
-- David Kelly
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