Woman sparks panicked search after touching rabid bat on Minneapolis street

A woman sparked a panicked search after touching a rabid bat on a Minneapolis street, according to health authorities.

The bat was discovered last Tuesday around 12 p.m. struggling on a sidewalk on Hennepin Avenue, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement.

The flying mammal died and was sent for rabies testing — with results later revealing it was positive for the potentially fatal disease, the health department announced.

A woman, described as a 25-to 30-year-old white woman with curly brown hair and a golden retriever-like dog, was seen crouching near the rabid bat and placing it into a bag, officials said. She then gave the bag to the individual who brought the bat in for testing.

Authorities had been desperately searching for the mystery woman until she contacted them Monday afternoon — six days after the bat was first found, the department added in an update later the same day.

Bat bites are often indetectable. The creatures can leave tiny, painless, and markless bites, and any other person who has touched the rabid bat should talk with a health care provider as soon as possible for assessment, experts said.

“If you did not touch or have any contact with the bat, you have no risk of rabies and do not need shots,” the department wrote in a statement.

Rabies, which is spread to people and pets through bites and scratches from an infected animal, requires urgent medical attention, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus is deadly without treatment, but the five-dose vaccine regimen is almost completely effective in preventing death.

Once rabies symptoms begin, health experts say the virus cannot be treated.

Early rabies symptoms may include irritability, headache, fever, double vision, and itching or pain at the exposure site.

The terrifying viral illness progresses to severe brain disease and death without intervention.

Since July, multiple US jurisdictions have reported a surge in human rabies exposures. From July through August 2026, the CDC received 17% more rabies-related inquiries than during the same period last year, the agency revealed in a report.

The Minnesota Department of Health did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on whether the woman has received rabies shots or begun exhibiting symptoms.