I believe I might have encountered a rabid animal recently. A bat was in my bathroom and flew into a cabinet after I opened the shower. I do not think it bit me, but I can’t tell if it struck me or not. I didn’t have any visible wounds or reddened areas. However, I do not know long it was in the shower, and I fear it either might be injured me in a non-visible way or gotten saliva on items inside which could have contaminated open sores. The bat was unfortunately released outside and cannot be tested for rabies. It was not hibernating in winter and seemed oddly uncoordinated and sickly (though it might have been from running into a cabinet, its lack of fear toward me seemed odd at first). As a result, I cannot definitively say I have contracted rabies but I worry about the possibility. The prices of rabies vaccinations, however, are too high for either myself or my family to afford. I also am uninsured. As a result, I am not sure where to turn for treatment. Because of the fatality of rabies infections, I highly desire to get rabies medicine but cannot find a way to acquire it.
If the bat did not bite you then you will be fine, you would of felt it if it did. The odds of a bat catching rabies is far less than other animals. Less than 1/2 of 1% of all bats may contract the disease. There is only one to two human deaths per year from bat rabies in the United States. A person living in the U.S. is more likely to catch polio, leprosy or the plague than to contract rabies from a bat.
If you are worried about any saliva that may of been left behind. Just clean the bathroom with a disinfectant and everything should be fine. If you do happen to get another bat in your house do not try and catch it bare handed because it will bite you then.