Surveillance video has given public health officials some clues about two people who dropped off a rabid bat at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region early Sunday, but they still haven’t tracked the couple down.

Officials from the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment are concerned that the couple, who appear to be in their 20s, may have been scratched or bitten by the rabid bat. They emphasize that the people aren’t in trouble with the law, but their health might be in danger.

The health department hopes the details that have emerged from the scene and video will help the public recognize the couple. They were driving an older, dark-colored Jeep Cherokee, and left the bat at the humane society about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The bat was in a Miller Lite box with a note that read, “bat hurt please help.”

Rabies can only be treated before symptoms start, so it is crucial for anyone exposed to the disease to seek medical treatment immediately, said Marigny Klaber, regional epidemiologist. While incubation periods vary widely, once symptoms begin, the disease is irreversible and deadly.

“This is a fatal disease. This is not something we want to mess around with,” Klaber said.

There has not been a human case of rabies in Colorado in decades, Klaber said. So far in 2010, four rabid foxes, four rabid bats and three rabid skunks have been found in El Paso County.

The couple — or anyone who knows them — are asked to immediately call the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment at 339-3230.

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Gazette writer Carlyn Mitchell contributed to this report.

This is the Miller Lite beer box that held the rabid bat left at the humane society. Photo by El Paso County Department of Health and Environment

Do you know these people? The health department wants to find them, because they may have been exposed to rabies. Photo by El Paso County Department of Health and Environment