This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Three bats in downtown Salt Lake City have tested positive for rabies — a number health officials call "unusual."

"We normally receive reports of only four in a year, and that's countywide," said Dagmar Vitek, medical director of Salt Lake County Health Department.

The infected bats were found over the past three months in an uncommonly small six- to seven-block radius that includes homes and businesses, though Nicholas Rupp, the department's spokesman, was unsure of the exact addresses.

Seeing a bat should not be cause for anxiety — the nocturnal flying mammals live throughout the Salt Lake Valley and migrate through the area this time of year — but one that appears to be acting strangely may be carrying the infectious disease. Bats with rabies might look weak, dehydrated or unable to fly.

"You shouldn't be alarmed if you see a bat hanging upside down in a tree or off a building," Rupp said, but if one is lying on the ground, that's an indication it may be sick. Healthy bats tend to avoid people and sleep during the day.

The health department advises that people and pets avoid contact with bats and other wild animals, especially if found in an atypical place. Do not attempt to remove it.

Rabies affects the nervous system; symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, paralysis, hallucinations, agitation, increased saliva, difficulty swallowing and fear of water, according to a news release from the department. Once signs appear, the disease is typically fatal.

People can get rabies after being bitten or scratched by an infected wild animal. It is also possible to contract the disease if the saliva or "brain matter" of a rabid animal gets into a person's eyes, nose, mouth or an open wound. Feces, blood and urine do not transmit rabies.

Anyone who encounters a sick bat is asked to report its location to his or her local animal control agency. Those that may have contacted an infected animal can call the health department at 385-468-4222 for an evaluation. Pets, by law, should have up-to-date rabies vaccinations.

Two bats also tested positive for rabies in Utah County in August.

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