Fans of the band Goose may have been exposed to rabid bats during a live show at The Salt Shed in Chicago last month.
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning earlier this month that there was a bat exposure at the outdoor concert venue on September 12, 2024. According to police, possible exposure may have occurred on September 12 between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Police said that while bats in and around Chicago have been found to carry rabies, not all bats carry the disease.
Rabies can be transmitted through bats from a bite or scratch, or if a bat has any physical contact with bare skin where a bite or scratch cannot be ruled out, police said, noting that bats have very small teeth and a bite might not be felt or easily seen.
Anyone who attended the concert and was bitten or scratched by a bat or had direct contact with a bat is urged to contact a healthcare provider as soon as possible to discuss rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Concertgoers who did not come in contact with a bat do not need to take action, police assured, as a bat flying above you is not a risk for rabies.
“Exposure to bats may put someone at risk for rabies,” police said. “Rabies is a disease that is caused by the rabies virus. It affects the nervous system of humans and other mammals. People get rabies from the bite of an animal infected with the rabies virus (a rabid animal). Rabies in humans is almost always a fatal disease. Therefore, it is critical to provide prompt and appropriate rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) after bat exposures take place.”
The Salt Shed told The Chicago Sun-Times that they have not seen any reports of attendees infected with rabies at this time, though they’re “monitoring the situation closely.”
Goose is touring through the end of the year. They’re slated to appear next in Nashville on October 24, followed by Hurricane Helene benefit shows in North Carolina and Alabama later this month.