Bat found inside cafe means customers need to test for rabies, California officials say

Health authorities in Los Angeles are warning people of a potential rabies exposure after a bat made its way into a Malibu restaurant.

Officials from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department said in a tweet a bat was handled “by one or more individuals, including a group of children,” at Malibu Cafe in Calamigos Ranch on June 4. The agency said that anyone who may have come into contact with the bat should reach out to their doctor and ask to be evaluated for post-exposure rabies treatment.

Officials also asked that people report other potential exposures by calling them at 213-974-1234.

Authorities aren’t sure if the bat inside the restaurant had rabies or not, as the bat “is not available for testing,” the agency said in a news release. However, rabies is “nearly always fatal, so we want people to err on the side of caution,” according to Muntu Davis, a health officer for the agency and a doctor.

“Parents need to ask their children if they noticed or touched any bats while at the facility,” Davis said in the release. “If anyone suspects they or their child came into contact with any bat, they should immediately be evaluated for possible post-exposure rabies treatment.”

People should not pick up or try to care for bats that are sick or dead, the agency said in the release. Bats have very small teeth, and people could be bitten or scratched by them without even noticing.

Direct contact with a bat is considered “a high-risk exposure to rabies,” the agency said, warning that rabies is fatal if it’s not treated before symptoms begin to appear.

“The disease is progressive and, once symptoms start, can rapidly cause death from respiratory failure,” the agency said. “Initial symptoms of rabies in people are fever, weakness, and headache, which progress to a tingling sensation, anxiety, agitation, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, difficulty swallowing, coma, and death.”

It can be hard to tell if animals are carrying rabies based on their behavior alone, the agency warned. Animals who are carrying rabies may be more aggressive than usual, but they could also be more timid or show no signs of aggression or illness at all.

Rabies is most commonly found in bats in Los Angeles County, the release said. In 2021, officials determined there were at least 68 bats with rabies in the county, the highest recorded number of rabid bats ever found in the county since 1961.



There have been 10 recorded cases of bats with rabies in the county in 2022.