Health officials are warning people who were in downtown Providence last week that they may have been exposed to rabies when a man was showing off a bat he had in a box.
Officials say the man was displaying the animal in Kennedy Plaza on the morning of Jan. 23. A health care provider alerted health officials after treating one onlooker for a bat bite and another for suspected rabies exposure.
Bat rabies is highly contagious. Health officials say they're not sure if the bat had rabies, but they're advising people who were at the plaza that morning to have themselves checked out and to call the Department of Health.
Officials say the unidentified man was in his 50s and was about 6 feet tall with a beard and glasses.
