No measles in Montezuma County, but more bats sent for rabies tests

Montezuma County has recorded no measles cases, public health nurses told the county Board of Health on Tuesday afternoon, but the department has sent an unusual number of bats for rabies testing over the past quarter.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Montezuma County Board of Health meeting, October 6, 2026

The board — the three county commissioners — meets quarterly. Tuesday’s was its last meeting of 2026; the next is January 5.

Communicable disease

Registered nurse Destiny Chavez gave the quarterly update. There have been no measles cases in Montezuma County, she said. As of September 24 there were about 3,600 confirmed cases across the United States in 47 jurisdictions, and Colorado had recorded 25 from July through September, two of them in September. There are no Ebola cases in the United States; the current outbreak is in the Uganda area.

The county has seen an increase in bats this quarter, Chavez said, and the department sent five bats and two cats for rabies testing. None came back positive. There have been 21 animal bites reported overall — one bat, two cats and the rest dogs.

A bat asleep during the day is behaving normally, Public Health Director Bobbi Lock said; it is contact with pets or people that prompts testing. The department currently has no veterinarian available to prepare animals for rabies testing, and Lock said the county wants to formalize an arrangement so that whoever helps can be reimbursed. Colorado Parks and Wildlife assists when a wild animal is involved.

The department has distributed 89 boxes of Narcan through individuals and other organizations.

Commissioners asked about kratom, which they said is circulating locally. The county’s medical officer said it acts on several receptors in the brain, only some of them opioid receptors, so naloxone — sold as Narcan — reverses part of its effect but cannot reverse all of it. Her advice was unchanged for any suspected overdose: call 911 and give Narcan if it is available, because there is no way to know what a person has taken.

Flu and immunization clinics

A flu clinic for county employees runs Thursday, October 8 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For everyone else, the department gives immunizations and flu vaccines on Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. Anyone who cannot make those times was asked to call the department to be scheduled.

Substance use prevention

Two prevention coordinators hired in July under a state grant, Joe Kelly and Alexis Smith, introduced the Elevating Prevention in Colorado program to the board. Their job, Kelly said, is to work out how best to support the county in reducing substance use, and since being hired they have met more than 20 community partners — from the district attorney’s office to school leadership to churches — to find where the needs are.

Asked what substance is most abused locally, Kelly said the answer has been consistent across those conversations: alcohol is the most destructive at the adult level. Among young people it looks different, he said, and tends toward vaping, with a mix of THC and nicotine. The pair said they hope to have a plan for addressing it before long, and the board asked for another update in January.

Suicide prevention walk

Assistant Director Laurel Schafer reported on the fifth RISE Southwest suicide prevention walk, held last month at Montezuma Park. The aim, she said, is to keep conversations about suicide prevention going in rural communities and to encourage people to seek help — both from family, friends and peers, and professionally.

The walk had 13 local resource tables and 20 to 25 sponsors, and the planning committee picked up two new members. Organizers added rock-painting events and a chalking night beforehand, when young people wrote positive messages along the pathway. Two community members spoke about their own experiences.

Attendance was about 142, Schafer said, down from the 150 to 300 the walk has drawn in past years. Organizers are looking at more family and youth activities for next year and expect to repeat an ornaments-of-remembrance event. She invited suggestions from the public.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988.

Health fair figures

Lock gave the board the numbers from this year’s community health fair, which the board had asked for at its last meeting. About 110 people took part, 62 of them pre-registered, and 530 lab tests were performed. None of the results came back critical, she said, which is why the department did not have to contact anyone. Eighteen people used a state vaccine clinic at the fair, receiving 37 vaccines between them, and 123 volunteers worked the event.

No date is set for the next one. Lock said she would email the hospital to get a meeting on the books and settle whether to hold it in the spring or the fall — a winter date was considered and rejected because of early-morning travel on icy roads.

The department also has a new coordinator for its care coordination program starting this week, after the previous coordinator left for another job.

35 years

The meeting closed with a tribute to Lock, who this month marks 35 years with Montezuma County and has submitted her retirement letter. Schafer read a statement thanking her for her leadership and for the public health professionals she has trained, telling her the record is “not measured in years or accomplishments, but in the people that you have served.”

“It’s been a good 35-year run,” Lock replied, “and hopefully we have a replacement who will stay another 35 years.”

The meeting was streamed by the county; the recording is on YouTube. The county’s own post carries the agenda; note that the video is titled with the date of the board’s July meeting.