GALESBURG — The Knox County Health Department has confirmed that a bat collected from a rural Knox County home on Oct. 21, 2025, tested positive for rabies, marking the first human exposures of the 2025 season, according to the department.

Four individuals were exposed after finding the bat in the home. They are receiving rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), the recommended course of treatment following potential exposure.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that 20 counties have had a total of 44 positive bats so far in 2025.

Rabies is a deadly virus but preventable with timely medical treatment. Bite and scratch exposures from a bat can be very small and may go unnoticed. Knox County residents who find a bat in their home, or who were in the same room as a bat while sleeping, should confine it to an enclosed area by closing the door and sealing any gaps at the base with a towel or tape.

If the bat is in a main living area and there has been potential exposure to a person or pet, residents should place a bucket over the bat, if possible, to contain it. In either situation, residents should contact the Knox County Health Department as soon as possible to arrange for collection and testing.

Rabies cases in humans are rare in Illinois but remain a concern each summer and fall. Individuals can reduce the risk of exposure by avoiding contact with bats and wild animals, keeping rabies vaccinations up to date for pets, and bat-proofing their homes, public health officials said. Any direct contact with a bat should be treated as a potential exposure, even if there is no visible bite or scratch.

The health department offers the following tips to protect people and pets from rabies:

• Do not feed, touch or adopt wild animals or stray dogs or cats.
• Encourage children to immediately tell an adult if they are bitten or scratched by an animal, and teach them not to approach or touch any animal they do not know.
• Report all animal bites to local animal control.

For more information on rabies, visit the Illinois Department of Public Health website or call the Knox County Health Department at 309-344-2224.