SASKATOON — A bat in a bedroom, home or workplace may seem like a quick problem to remove. Still, Saskatchewan health officials are reminding residents that any potential exposure should be taken seriously.
The Ministry of Health said residents should take every bat encounter seriously and immediately seek medical assessment after a potentially dangerous exposure, as rabies can be fatal once symptoms appear.
The ministry issued the warning as public health officials continue to monitor human exposures to bats and maintain province-wide access to rabies prevention and treatment. This is in relation to a recent report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal about a death caused by rabies.
The incident happened in 2024, when an unnamed 11-year-old boy was sleeping while his family was staying at a cottage on vacation, and he woke to find a bat on his nose and mouth. The child swatted the bat off his face, and his father caught it and released the animal outside.
The Canadian Medical Association Journal reported that the child’s parents did not have their son checked by a medical professional, since he did not show symptoms of being infected by the virus. After almost three weeks, the boy experienced numbness and swelling on his face.
The boy's parents did not immediately seek medical attention because their son had no visible injuries and did not think the bat behaved erratically, the journal states. But 19 days later, the boy began experiencing numbness and swelling on his face, and died more than a week later.
The Ministry of Health said it received 13 reports across the province in 2025 involving people who had contact with bats that later tested positive for rabies. No information was provided on what happened to those who were exposed to bats that tested positive for rabies.
The Ministry of Health added that while human rabies cases remain extremely rare, bats continue to be the primary source of potential exposures in the province. If anyone wakes up to find a bat in their bedroom, they should have themselves checked, even if they cannot determine whether they had physical contact with the animal.
"If a person is unable to determine whether contact with a bat occurred — because they were sleeping, medicated, intoxicated or are a young child — they should see their family doctor, local emergency room department or call HealthLine 811 for assessment as soon as possible,” said the Ministry of Health.
Health officials also advised against touching a bat with bare hands. They stressed that treatment may be necessary even when there are no visible injuries, as the animal’s bites and scratches are small and difficult to detect, making it impossible in some cases to rule out an exposure.
The ministry says bat exposures are treated as high-risk situations because rabies can be prevented if post-exposure treatment is started before symptoms appear. Access to treatment is available across Saskatchewan, including smaller communities.
The ministry says provincial guidance and assessment tools are provided to health-care professionals through the Communicable Disease Control Manual, and that physicians consult local medical health officers when determining whether rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is required.
Communities across the province are equipped to begin treatment without significant delays, and rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin are stocked year-round in urban, rural and northern communities, and are accessible in public health offices and hospitals.
The province also monitors rabies activity in wildlife through its Rabies Response Program, and rabies-positive bats are found throughout Saskatchewan. However, most confirmed cases are detected in areas with larger human populations where encounters between people and bats are more likely.
The Rabies Response Program publishes maps of confirmed rabies cases and monthly surveillance reports to help track activity across the province. Health officials say the combination of public awareness, rapid medical assessment and readily available vaccines remains Saskatchewan's best defence against human rabies.
