Pitkin County has confirmed a bat that bit a person near the Weller Lake parking lot up Independence Pass has tested positive for rabies — the fourth confirmed county case in the last eight years and the first positive case since 2023. 

Jill Pisani, who was bitten, is expected to make a full recovery. 

The results were received on July 22, according to Carlyn Porter, emergency response and epidemiology program administrator for Pitkin County.

“This is fairly unusual,” Porter said. “You never know when the positive one might appear.”

This bat was one of six bats tested for rabies so far this year, and the only one to test positive.

Pisani, longtime local and teacher, saw the bat while walking about a quarter of a mile up the river from the parking lot to a well-known watering hole she’s been visiting since she was little.

“It was on a rock, and it was right where dogs cross, where kids cross, kind of in the water a little bit,” she said, who was also with a little girl she teaches. “I picked it up with some leaves, and it crawled up my arm and bit me.”

She said she was so focused on protecting the bat, kids, and dogs that she didn’t immediately think about rabies. Following the bite, she learned there was another bat not too far away that was dead. 

“Rabies is real,” she said. “I think it’s important to get it out there that there could be a bunch of them out there.”

After the bat bit her, Pisani ultimately submitted it to Porter for testing per her doctor-on-call’s recommendation and went to the emergency room, where they treated her with rabies immunoglobulin shots. She is now receiving a followup series of four vaccination shots from Pitkin County Health & Human Services.

“I grew up here, and I pick up every creature. I’m still learning, always learning,” she said. “I’m just so grateful.”

The bat was tested at the state lab in Cherry Creek in Denver, according to Porter, after being ethically euthanized.

“Luckily no one else was exposed,” she said. “We’re not super concerned about public exposure risk. We want to encourage people to not touch wildlife … and when you see bats behaving strangely, there may be a reason for that.”

Those with potential or confirmed exposure to a bat or who want to request a rabies risk assessment can contact rabies@pitkincounty.com.