Bat Found At Huntington Beach Home Depot Store Tests Positive For Rabies

(Santa Ana) – Anyone who may have come into contact on March 1st with a bat found at the Home Depot store, 7100 Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach, is asked to call the Orange County Health Care Agency, following tests that showed the bat was infected with rabies.

“The bat was found on March 1st about 7:30 p.m. just inside the store from the outdoor garden area of the Huntington Beach Home Depot location. We are very fortunate that employees of the store did not make contact with the bat,” said Dr. Hildy Meyers, Public Health Epidemiology Medical Director. The bat was picked up from the store by Animal Care Officers and the rabies test results became available Friday morning.

“We want to exercise the utmost in caution by asking anyone who may have come into contact with the bat at the Home Depot store, 7100 Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach, on March 1st to call Orange County Animal Care Services at (714) 935-6106 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., for additional information,” Dr. Meyers said. This phone line is typically answered Monday through Friday, but will be staffed on Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6 to receive inquiries. Parents who brought their children with them to the store on the evening of March 1st should specifically ask their children about seeing or touching a bat.

Human rabies cases are very rare but can result if a person is bitten by a rabid animal. Medical assistance should be obtained as soon as possible after an exposure so any wound can be cleaned and preventive treatment called post-exposure prophylaxis can be started. This treatment is safe and effective. Most bats do not have rabies, but to minimize the risk, it is best never to handle any bat or wild animal