Bat tests positive for rabies

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The Daubenton's bat was found last August in Bushy Park, by a member of the public and passed to experienced bat handlers to be looked after.

The animal was destroyed earlier this month after it started behaving abnormally and tests showed it had European bat lyssavirus 2 (EBLV-2), a strain of bat rabies.

Defra said the risk to human health of the disease was "negligible" as treatment was highly effective, but said anyone who believed they or their pets had come into contact with that particular bat to contact the authorities.

The EBLV-2 strain has been found in six bats in the UK since 1996, in Sussex, Lancashire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Shropshire, Defra said.

There is a known low prevalence of EBLV-2 in Daubenton's bats in England, but it does not affect the UK's rabies-free animal health status, the department said.

The virus can only be transmitted by the bite of an infected bat, and the Health Protection Agency advises anyone who is bitten to wash the wound with soap and water and seek medical advice immediately.

Anyone who finds a sick or injured bat should not approach or handle it, but should contact the Bat Conservation Trust.

Bats are a protected species and it is illegal to kill them or damage their roosts, Defra added.

:: Anyone who believes they or their pets have been in contact with the bat should contact the Animal Health Office at Chelmsford on 01245 358383 for animals or the Health Protection Agency on 020 8200 6868 for human contacts.