BATH — A bat has tested positive for rabies and may have exposed a dog to the virus.

Bath’s animal control officer was called to Academy Street at around 1 p.m. June 28, after learning a dog may have been exposed to a sick or injured bat.

The animal control officer was able to collect the bat and bring it to the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory in Augusta. Police learned Monday the bat tested positive for rabies.

“The dog was seen in the area of a sick and injured bat so we’re not exactly 100% sure of exposure,” Bath Police Chief Michael Field said. 

There is a good chance the dog got close enough to or sniffed the bat, so that there was some transfer of fluid or a bite, he said.

Police say the dog was vaccinated against the virus, but is under a 45-day observation period.

“We continue to urge the public to keep their pets up to date on their rabies vaccinations,” police stated in a news release.

Police ask residents to call animal control and their veterinarian if they believe their pets have been in contact with a potentially rabid animal.

The bat would be the fifth rabid animal known in Bath since February.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t yet list the bat in its rabies data for 2019. The data shows that two bats have tested positive for rabies this year in Maine — one in Portland and one in Bangor. Wild animals are tested for the virus in cases where there is exposure to a human or pet.

dmoore@timesrecord.com