Four teens exposed to rabid bat

The treatment involves a series of shots over a period of three weeks to a month, officials said.

Officials did not provide details of the exposure other than saying the teens handled the bat that later tested positive for the infectious viral disease.

People can get rabies from exposure to an animal infected with the virus. The disease is fatal without the preventive treatment.

Dr. Valerie Boaz, health Officer at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, said the best prevention is to avoid contact with bats or other animals that are unfamiliar, appear ill or act abnormally.

A total of 26 animals have tested positive for rabies in Hamilton County since the year 2000, according to Bonnie Deakins, Director of Environmental Health. Eleven of those 26 were bats.

In 2004, Hamilton County had its first raccoon, fox and opossum that tested positive for rabies.

Since 1990, 26 of the 35 human rabies deaths in the United States have been associated with bat-variant rabies viruses, officials said. Of those 26, only two had known bites.

A 13-year-old Franklin County boy died from rabies Aug. 31, 2002. The boy never reported being bitten and no medical care was sought. The family did not realize that bats may be rabid and can transmit the rabies virus to humans.

Preventive treatment is recommended after a bat exposure or a bite from another wild animal, unless the animal tests negative.