Sources: Salem County Department of Health; News12 New Jersey
The Salem County Department of Health and Human Services is alerting the public for anyone who may have come into contact with a bat that was seen flying in the Pilesgrove Township Acme supermarket during the mid-afternoon of Sunday, July 29.
There is a potential risk for exposure to rabies since the bat was observed to be flying erratically during daytime hours.
The Department is specifically trying to locate a woman and her two children who were potentially exposed when she picked up the bat from the floor and said she was taking it home until dusk to release it. According to eyewitness reports, the woman was seen showing the bat to someone prior to her leaving the store.
Staff from the Environmental Division of the Department has interviewed Acme employees, and they are awaiting a review of the store’s surveillance footage. Local hospitals also have been contacted.
Rabies is a deadly disease: it can be contracted by infected saliva entering the bloodstream via a bite or an open cut. If the bat is not available for testing, treatment must begin immediately — Please call (856) 769-1955.
A dentist from Bergen County has a unique way to put his young patients at ease – he uses magic tricks.
Dr. Eyal Simchi of Riverfront Pediatric Dentistry in Elmwood Park says that he knows that children are sometimes frightened of going to the dentist. He says that he stumbled upon magic years ago when he was with his wife and saw a demonstration. She suggested that he learn the tricks as a way to break the ice with his young patients.
“I was never into magic before then, but it looked like a cool idea,” Simchi says.
Simchi, who has six children of his own, says that he knows what it is like to be afraid to go to the dentist, because he used to be too when he was a child.
“I was very sensitive to everything. I had a bad gag reflex, I didn’t like tastes, so a lot of what my patients go through, I went through,” he says.
The original video of Simchi performing magic for a patient has garnered more than 40 million views.
You can visit Riverfront Pediatric Dentistry online at RiverfrontSmiles.com