LAKE ELSINORE – (INT) – Riverside County health officials are warning people to avoid rabid bats.

There have been three incidents this month including two this week in which residents have come in contact with the night- mammals. No one has come down with the disease.

In one Lake Elsinore neighborhood, someone found a rabid bat, placed it inside a box and showed it to eight people, including several children.

Later in Moreno Valley, a woman came in contact with a bat when it flew into her garage and then into her hair.

Earlier this month in the Coachella Valley, a woman attempting to get a bat out of her truck suffered a puncture to a finger. The bat tested positive for rabies.

“While it is very rare in humans, rabies is a potentially fatal illness”, said Barbara Cole, head of disease control for the county.

Rabies in humans is rare – but the most common cases are a result of people coming in contact with a rabid bat, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Story Date: August 31, 2015