During Somerset Bat Group events we follow the guidance provided by our national, and international bodies.
For most bat observing events e.g; bat walks, Big Bat Counts, roost emergence counts, radio tracking …etc, where there is no close contact between us and bats, then no special precautions need to be taken.
However for events with potential close contact with bats, e.g bat box checks, bat trapping, bat roost visits …etc, then the following guidelines should be followed.
In June 2024 the Bat Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission produced new guidelines for field hygiene for bat work. These new guidelines go beyond the previous guidance which focussed on SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and cover measures to reduce the risk of transmission of all pathogens, known and unknown, between humans and bats. The IUCN BSG guidance is designed to cover different scenarios in which bat workers work in close contact with bats throughout the world.
Our national body, the BCT, have put together a document which pulls out and localises the relevant guidance for carrying out hibernation surveys in the UK and have carried out a generalised assessment of risks within the UK context. The UK hibernation survey field hygiene guidance document can be downloaded from this webpage.