King County Public Health is looking for two people who may have come into contact with a rabid bat found outside a residence near the Washington Park Arboretum last week.
Officials say the encounter apparently involved people who found the injured animal and provided it water, according to a note left on the door of a Boyer Ave E home:
The bat was first identified on September 23, 2025. A King County resident found a note on their door indicating that two unknown people had given the bat water and alerting the resident to the sick bat. The bat was euthanized by an animal control agency on September 24. Public Health tested the bat for rabies and received a positive test on September 25.
The health department has been trying to find the two bat helpers. “If you had any contact with this bat, please call Public Health or seek medical evaluation immediately,” they write.
Health officials have also provided information about what to do if you encounter a sick bat:
If you see a bat outside, do not touch the bat. If you are concerned that the bat is sick, call animal control. Find animal control services in your area.
If you find a bat inside your house, call Public Health at 206-296-4774 to discuss the situation and to determine whether the bat needs to be tested for rabies. Public Health tests bats for rabies at no charge under certain circumstances.
Open windows and allow bats to leave your home if they have not come into contact with a person or pets. Close doors to other parts of your home and secure pets away from the location of the bat.
If a bat had direct contact with a person’s bare skin or with a pet, OR if a person wakes up to a bat in the room in which they were sleeping, the bat should be captured and might need to be tested for rabies. Use a shovel or gloves to put a dead bat in a box for testing. Do not throw it away!
For more information about how to safely capture a bat in your home and how to safely avoid bats, visit: kingcounty.gov/bats
As of this week, there have been no further updates in the case from Public Health.
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