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Health briefs: Take precautions with bats, which may carry rabies

Rabies is a potentially deadly virus transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. Some bats have tested positive for rabies in Northwest Colorado. Observe the following precautions to avoid exposure to potentially infected bats or other wild animals.

  • Never touch a wild bat or any other wild animal.
  • Teach children who find a bat to leave it alone and tell an adult.
  • Keep doors and windows covered with intact screens. Do not leave screenless doors or windows open in the evening.
  • If a bat enters the house, call a professional trapper with experience removing bats from homes.
  • Keep pets up-to-date on rabies vaccines. Call a veterinarian if unsure of pets’ vaccination status.
  • In the event of exposure to a bat, if possible, safely collect the animal using a shovel and contact the Routt County Department of Environmental Health at 970-870-5588.
  • Anyone who is bitten by a bat or awakens to find a bat in the room is advised to contact a medical provider and Northwest Colorado at 970-879-1632.

For more information, visit cdc.gov/rabies.

Weigh and Win team challenge



Weigh and Win, a free community weight loss program, is encouraging groups of four to eight people to pool their weight loss efforts for the chance to win prizes.

The Fall Back into Fitness Team Challenge is slated to run through Oct. 31. Each team member will need to weigh in at least twice at the kiosk, located in the lobby of Northwest Colorado Health, 940 Central Park Drive, Suite 101.



Teams across the state will compete in one of two categories: most average weight improvement or most average HEALTHpoints. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in each category.

Participants must be enrolled in the Weigh and Win program. Enroll at weightandwin.com or text JOIN to 303-500-1702. Team registration will be available on the website Aug. 1. For more information, call 970-871-7618.

Share healthy recipes with the Steamboat Today

The Steamboat Today publishes simple, healthy recipes in the Yampa Valley Health section of the newspaper on Monday. Anyone who has a recipe that is easy-to-fix and made from commonly found ingredients is welcome to share it with the paper. Forget the fussy soufflé or the dish requiring fenugreek seeds, we’re looking for basic recipes that will inspire people to cook. Email recipes to Karen Massey at karen.massey@colostate.edu or send them to Massey at the Routt County Extension Office, P.O. Box 772830, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.

To submit a health brief, email jpatterson@steamboattoday.com.


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