Singer Taylor Momsen, who is also known for her role in the hit TV show “Gossip Girl,” says she needs to get a rabies vaccination after being bitten by a bat on stage last week.
Momsen, 30, was performing with her band, The Pretty Reckless, in Seville, Spain on Wednesday when the eerie incident occurred.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, Momsen can be seen addressing the crowd onstage, saying that people were pointing at her but she didn’t know what they were trying to draw attention to.
Momsen then walked away from the microphone, looked at her thigh and exclaimed, “Oh my God.” The singer returned to the microphone to announce what many in the audience already knew: A bat had been clinging to her leg.
“I must really be a witch,” Momsen said when a man came to examine her leg shortly after the bat flew away. The video then cuts to footage of the former “Gossip Girl” star receiving treatment and what appears to be a bat mark on her leg.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Momsen wrote about the bat, “It was cute but I did get bitten… so I’ll have to get a rabies shot for the next 2 weeks.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that if you are bitten or scratched by a bat, you should wash the wound with soap and water and seek medical attention immediately.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, bat bites are the most common way people contract rabies in the United States. The rabies virus is spread through direct contact with the saliva and brain tissue of an infected animal. Rabies can be deadly to humans, but it’s easily preventable.
If a person may have been exposed to rabies, they would receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which includes wound care, “administration of human rabies immune globulin,” and four to five doses of the rabies vaccine, according to the CDC. If given promptly, PEP is “almost 100% effective,” according to the CDC.
“Anyone who may have been exposed to rabies should be promptly evaluated to determine whether they need the vaccine,” the CDC added. “This evaluation is critical because people who need the vaccine and don’t get it before they develop symptoms are likely to die.”
It is unclear whether Momsen tested positive for rabies. On Saturday, Momsen shared another photo of a “No Bats” sign held up by an AC/DC member. The Pretty Reckless are opening for the band on their Power Up Tour. Momsen has continued to perform despite her encounter with the bat.
In addition to “The Pretty Reckless,” which premiered at The Annex in Brooklyn, Momsen’s resume also includes roles as Cindy Lou Who in the 2000 film “The Grinch” and Jenny Humphrey on the TV series “Gossip Girl.”
