Donna Rudd is not about to denounce the bat as public enemy No. 1 based on one negative experience.
However, she is encouraging prairie residents to take extra care when dealing with bats and their droppings.
Rudd is recovering from a rare disease known as histoplasmosis, which can affect the function of lungs and other internal organs and typically results in fever, loss of energy and chronic respiratory problems.
Rudd, who lives near Ponoka, Alta., noticed droppings at the base of her chimney in the basement of her house, but originally assumed they were mouse droppings.
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When she decided to vacuum the material out of the chimney, she was surprised to find the remains of a dead bat.
Within days, she began to exhibit flu-like symptoms.
The symptoms worsened and Rudd’s health deteriorated to the point where she required medical attention.
“The following week I was really unwell,” she said.
“I had a very high fever and chills and I had muscle and bone pain like you wouldn’t believe. I was so dehydrated that I ended up in emergency at two different hospitals within a week.”
Doctors had trouble diagnosing Rudd’s condition.
Initially, she was treated for pneumonia. Another doctor suggested that her symptoms indicated cancer.
The mysterious condition worsened until Rudd spoke with another Alberta woman whose son had contracted histoplasmosis after cleaning bat droppings out of an abandoned building.
Rudd put two and two together and surmised that the mysterious ailment was histoplasmosis, which normally affects people in the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Delta regions of the United States.
Subsequent tests confirmed her suspicion.
A CT scan showed lesions and wart-like nodules on her lungs.
Blood samples sent to a lab in the United States also came back positive.
Bat droppings recovered from Rudd’s chimney also showed high concentrations of the fungal spores that cause the disease.
The experience has not convinced Rudd that bats should be exterminated, only that people should be aware of the risk involved.
Within the last year, there have been a number of similar cases reported in central Alberta.
Bats can also carry rabies. Rabid bats are rare in Western Canada, but extra caution should be taken if bats come in close contact with humans.
Although Rudd’s health problem was the direct result of contact with bat droppings, she said bats will still be welcomed on her farm.
“Bats are still OK. They can live outside and they can eat all the mosquitoes that they want,” she said.
“But I would encourage people who have bats in their house to clean them out, seal up the house so they can live outside … and protect your children from getting into bat (droppings).”
