CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago Department of Public Health warned Friday that people who attended a concert at the Salt Shed last month may have been exposed to bats.
The Goose concert takes place on Thursday, September 12, between 5pm and 10pm at the Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave.
The Department of Public Health did not provide details about which bats or bats were inside the concert venue at the time. But the department warned that bats can sometimes carry rabies.
Rabies is a particularly serious concern for anyone who has been bitten or scratched by a bat, or has had physical contact with a bat on their bare skin where a bite or scratch cannot be ruled out. The administration emphasized that bats have very small teeth, so a bat bite may not be felt or leave marks that can be easily detected.
Anyone who attended the party and was bitten or scratched by a bat, or had direct contact with a bat, should contact their health care provider as soon as possible to discuss post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies. This will include a dose of human rabies immune globulin and four doses of the vaccine.
Only people who have been in contact with bats have cause for concern. A bat flying in the sky cannot infect anyone with rabies.
More information about rabies can be found at the Illinois Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites.
