EDGEWATER — The city warned residents this week to vaccinate their pets after a rabid bat was found on Devon Avenue.
Chicago Animal Care and Control issued an alert Tuesday and passed out fliers to residents near where the bat was found last week in the 1500 block of West Devon Avenue.
"Getting shots for pets is always the first thing that you want to do," said Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, which confirmed the diagnosis in its laboratory.
Arnold said there had been eight reported cases of rabies this year throughout the state. Last year, there were 63 cases, all involving bats, she said.
She said the majority of cases involve bats in northeast Illinois — and sometimes in the city.
The peak of cases happen when bats are most active in August, she said.
In the past three years, no pets in the state have been reported to be infected with rabies, she said.
The alert from the the city said to not handle bats found in the wild and to report them to 311.
