A bat carrying the deadly rabies virus has been discovered in the UK just two weeks after three people survived bites from a rabid dog in northwest London.

The Daubenton’s bat was found in Bushey Park in Surrey last August and was being nursed back to health when vets noticed unusual behaviour and put the animal down. It was destroyed on May 2 and tests have now revealed that the bat was suffering from rabies.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) warned members of the public not to approach bats whether dead or alive, but to contact the Bat Conservation Trust. A spokesman asked anyone who believed their pets had come into contact with the rabid bat to contact the authorities.

The virus can only be transmitted by a bite, and the Health Protection Agency advises anyone who is bitten to wash the wound with soap and water and seek medical advice immediately.

The HPA and Animal Health are carrying out a full investigation to trace possible human and animal contacts.

Last month a dog rescue charity manager and two other staff members at a quarantine kennel were bitten by a rabid dog, which had arrived from Sri Lanka.

Kim Cooling, head of the Animal SOS Sri Lanka charity, and two staff at the Chingford Boarding and Quarantine Kennels, in Essex, were "nipped" by the puppy.

Doctors from the Health Protection Agency are observing the trio who had already been vaccinated and then each received booster injections following the incident.

The bat was destroyed earlier this month and tests showed it had European bat lyssavirus 2 (EBLV-2), a strain of bat rabies.

The EBLV-2 strain has been found in six bats in the UK since 1996, in Sussex, Lancashire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Shropshire, Defra said.

There is a known low prevalence of EBLV-2 in Daubenton’s bats in England, but it does not affect the UK’s rabies-free animal health status, the department said.

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