Less than one per cent of Trinidad and Tobago’s bat population has rabies.

Of the 68 species of bats in the country only two species, both vampire bats – the bovine-loving "Desmodus rotundus" and the white-winged "Diaemus youngi" that feeds on birds – can transmit rabies.

Even with that small percentage, the Desmodus rotundus or common vampire bats have been causing havoc in the district of Barrackpore in southern Trinidad over the past two months, killing about 29 heads of cattle and two sheep.

Cattle and poultry farmer Seetal Persad, 61, lost a male calf and a cow to the disease, leaving him with nine cows.

He told Sunday Newsday his parents used to care for cattle and he continued their tradition. Growing up he would see drops of blood on the animals’ shoulders and knew bats bit them but nothing ever happened to them. In his 50 years of raising cattle, he never knew rabies was so dangerous.

He recalled at the beginning of March one of his calves started dripping saliva from its nose and mouth, stopped drinking milk or eating, started drifting when it tried to walk, and eventually could not stand anymore.

By the time it died, a second animal had similar conditions and he called the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries for help. Members of the Anti-Rabies Unit visited with a veterinarian who believed the animal had rabies.

[caption id="attachment_948994" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dr Janine Seetahal extracting a vampire bat from a net. Photo by Jerome Foster. -[/caption]

They asked permission to euthanise and test the animal which confirmed it had rabies and vaccinated his remaining cattle.

“Seeing what the first one went through was really heartbreaking. To see him lie down on the ground, he couldn’t eat even as I tried to feed him. And seeing that I was in direct contact with him and I didn’t use a glove, my wife and I had to get the rabies vaccines.”

He said his family loves animals. In addition, it was a big commitment and a lot of work to care for them in the sun or rain and to ensure their safety during floods so it was difficult to lose them.

“I was thankful for the information the doctor gave us to go and get the vaccine because I never knew the vaccines were available for humans too. Because they said the same way there’s no cure for the cow if they get bitten before vaccination, there’s no cure for a human once you start showing symptoms.”

Cattle farmer Ramesh Rampersad had 13 heads of cattle before three died from rabies.

[caption id="attachment_949016" align="alignnone" width="683"] A suspected bat roost at a farm in Barrackpore. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]

He said one day the cattle were running around and eating just fine, the next day a cow started drifting and on the third day it died. Three days later, his prized breeding bull also died.

He explained officers from the ministry visited for a scheduled vaccination of his cattle. When they saw the animal, they did not vaccinate it but called a veterinarian who said the animal had rabies. They immed