Goose Fans 'May Have Been Exposed' to Rabid Bats at Chicago Show, Warns the City's Public Health Department

Mar. 15, 2025

Rick Mitarotonda of Goose in September 2023; a bat.Photo:Harmony Gerber/Getty; Getty

Harmony Gerber/Getty; Getty

Thousands of fans attendedGoose’s recent Chicago concert, and it’s possible a few bats were there as well.

Nearly a month after the jam band performed at the Salt Shed in Chicago on Sept. 12, the city’s public health department warned concertgoers of potential exposure to rabid bats, advising anyone who came in contact with a bat at the show to consider “rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.”

“TheChicago Department of Public Health(CDPH) is alerting the public of a bat exposure at a large outdoor concert venue on September 12, 2024. Additional attendees may have been exposed,” reads a press release. “Bats in and around Chicago have been found to carry rabies, although not all bats carry rabies.”

Goose in November 2022.Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

The department explained rabies could be of concern to people who received “a bite or scratch” from a bat — or even had “any physical contact” with the animal. “Bats have very small teeth,” states the release. “Therefore, a bite from a bat may not be felt and may leave marks that are not easily seen.”

Those who may have come into contact with a bat should “contact a healthcare provider as soon as possible to discuss rabies post-exposure prophylaxis,” a treatment comprised of “a dose of human rabies immune globulin and four doses of vaccine.”

Reps for the concert venue said in a statement to PEOPLE, “The Salt Shed is monitoring the situation closely. The health and safety of our guests is, as ever, our top priority.”

They added, “We have medical personnel onsite for every event, and to date have received no reports from attendees of any bat sightings or infections.”

Goose has tour dates scheduled in North America throughout the end of the year, and the band is set to perform at the Viva el Gonzo festival in Mexico in May 2025.

Taylor Momsen in May 2024 (left).Mariano Regidor/Redferns; Taylor Momsen/ Instagram

Mariano Regidor/Redferns; Taylor Momsen/ Instagram

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“he was cute, but yes he bit me…so rabies shots for the next two weeks,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “thanks to all the staff at the hospital who dubbed me#batgirlafter seeing it on the local news that morning.”

source: people.com