A Virginia doctor, Krista Edelman, woke up to find a bat trying to burrow between her lips and into her mouth, in an incident that has drawn widespread attention after she shared it in a viral video. Edelman, a gastroenterologist, grabbed the bat and threw it across the room before working out how to handle the situation safely, later going public to warn others about the risks of rabies exposure from bats, which can be fatal if untreated.

Edelman managed to trap the bat and had it tested for rabies, with the result coming back negative; local health departments can typically process such tests within around 48 hours. Her Instagram video recounting the episode drew more than 1.1 million views and roughly 43,000 shares, with medical experts, including an emergency room doctor and a state public health veterinarian, stressing that anyone waking up with a bat in their room should assume the worst, seek treatment promptly and try to catch the animal for testing given how small and hard-to-detect bat bites can be.