DELMA Buczko’s neighbors are noisy, smelly and potentially pose a health hazard – and she’s been campaigning to have them removed for years.

The neighbors, a colony of flying foxes, suffered a blow after the heatwave on Sunday February 12, which left hundreds of the dead animals strewn on Mrs Buczko’s property.

The Kempsey home owner said she believed breathing in the smell of the flying foxes’ faeces or the decomposing animals was a health hazard.

“We can’t even have barbecues here anymore, it’s got so bad,” she said. “The smell is atrocious and it floats into the house. We’re breathing it in all the time.

“I think it’s dangerous having so many of them so close and something must be done about it. We can’t even use our water tank.”

According to NSW Health, flying foxes in Australia are known to carry two infections which can pose a serious risk to human health - Australian Bat Lyssavirus and Hendra virus.

Human infections with these viruses are very rare and when there is no handling or direct contact with flying foxes, there is negligible public health risk.

Mrs Buczko said she had been pressuring Kempsey Shire Council to remove some bamboo and relocate the flying foxes.

“I know the flying foxes are protected but they could at least cut the bamboo back,” she said. “It feels like I’ve been fighting this fight for so long. I’m tired of it.”

The Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD) warned residents of the Macleay Valley to avoid handling or touching dead flying foxes or microbats ‘unless they have been trained, vaccinated against rabies and use the proper equipment’.

According to the MNCLHD, residents who find a dead, injured or distressed flying fox, should not attempt to handle it and instead call FAWNA on 6581-4141.

If you are bitten or scratched by a flying fox, the wound should immediately be washed gently but thoroughly with soap and water, an antiseptic such as povidone-iodine applied, and a doctor consulted as soon as possible to assess the need for further treatment.