YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Yosemite National Park officials are urging visitors to seek medical guidance if they had contact with a bat near one of the park's busiest lodging areas earlier this year, after a dead bat found outside a shower facility tested positive for rabies.

The park announced the finding in a news release Wednesday, more than three months after the bat was initially discovered. The big brown bat was found dead outside the Curry Village Showerhouse on May 18, according to Yosemite National Park, with the delay in announcing the result attributed to the time required to complete laboratory testing.

"No known human contact with the bat has been reported," Yosemite National Park said in its release.

Despite the absence of any confirmed reports of human contact, park officials asked anyone who may have had direct contact with a bat in the Curry Village area on or around May 18 to contact the California Department of Public Health and reach out to a health care provider promptly to determine whether preventive treatment is necessary.

Officials emphasized that direct contact with a bat does not need to involve an obvious bite to warrant medical evaluation. Contact can also include a bat landing on clothing or a wing brushing against skin or hair, interactions that may not be immediately noticeable or painful but can still pose an exposure risk given how small bat bites and scratches can be.

Curry Village, tucked into the eastern corner of Yosemite Valley, is one of the park's most heavily trafficked lodging areas, featuring........

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