The Wyoming Department of Health is done notifying local health departments for the more than 200 guests from 38 states and seven countries potentially exposed to rabies while staying at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.
Those who stayed in a row of cottage-style rooms beneath an attic space, where the bat colony was found, have been encouraged to consult their healthcare providers for a risk assessment to determine if post-exposure treatment is necessary. The rooms in question are 516, 518, 520, 522, 524, 526, 528 and 530.
“The exposures in this situation were really low risk, but any sort of bat presence inside a building where people are or may be sleeping really should be assessed for the potential of rabies exposure and whether post-exposure prophylaxis is warranted,” said State Health Officer Alexia Harrist. Prophylaxis is an action, like vaccine treatment, taken to prevent disease.
None of the bats tested came back positive for rabies but Harrist said it is likely that not all bats were tested. She cautioned that some untested bats could have been carrying the disease so the protocol is to respond as if one was positive. That’s because rabies is almost always fatal if left untreated.
Harrist said a mitigation team is investigating the colony and providing guidance, while adding that work to prevent bat run-ins, on behalf of the lodge and the National Park Service, is consistently underway since the region is known to have bats. Staff from Wyoming Department of Health, the National Park Service (NPS) in Washington D.C. and the Center for Diseases Control in Atlanta made a site visit to investigate the bat colony and the response.
Vail Resorts, which owns the lodge’s parent company, Grand Teton Lodge Company, declined to comment and directed KHOL to the National Park.
“The Wyoming Department of Health is leading the response,” said Emily Davis, a spokesperson for Grand Teton National Park. Davis directed KHOL to Harrist.
While acknowledging the high cost of treatment, Harrist urged those who think they were exposed not to skip treatment.
“Unfortunately, these can be tricky situations, so certainly contacting their local public health office and seeing what resources might be available [is recommended],” Harrist added.
In some situations, local health departments can help cover the costs of the vaccine treatment, Harrist said. In the Mountain West, shots can cost upwards of $30,000, even with insurance, though some health departments and the CDC have helped bring that price down.
Post-rabies exposure vaccines are covered for those with Medicare under Part B.
As of Aug. 29, Teton County has been informed of 49 bat exposures in Grand Teton outside of the hotel incident. Teton County Health Officer Travis Riddell said the majority involved visitors, though at least three of those exposed were concession staff and another three were NPS staff.
“Most of us who are out at dusk certain times of year during the summer are likely to see bats,” Riddell said. “Seeing a bat going by you is not an abnormal occurrence and it’s not an encounter that would put you at risk for rabies.
What puts you at risk for rabies, he said, is being in the same space as a bat when you may not have been aware of contact.
