In brief
A tragic incident in Ontario saw an 11-year-old boy develop fatal rabies after waking to a bat on his face. The boy was swatted and the bat released into the wild, and medical attention was delayed because no visible injury was noted. Despite multiple emergency visits and intensive treatment, the disease progressed, leading to the boy’s death 17 days after hospitalization. The case underscores the importance of immediate post‑exposure prophylaxis for any bat contact and continues to remind Canadians of the low, but existing, risk of rabies.
An 11-year-old Canadian boy lost his life after a bat bit his face during a cottage visit in Ontario.
The boy swatted a bat that had landed on his nose, and his father captured the animal in a pot before releasing it outside. The family did not seek medical care immediately because no visible injury was apparent and the bat appeared unremarkable.
Nearly three weeks later, the child began to experience numbness and swelling on his face. He was taken to an emergency clinic where doctors first treated him for what they believed might be Bell's palsy, then for a presumed herpes viral infection. Subsequent tests revealed rising fever, difficulty swallowing, confusion, and visual hallucinations, prompting admission to the paediatric intensive care unit and intubation.
Invasive medical teams from the University of Manitoba and the Department of Pediatrics strongly suspected rabies. A definitive test confirmed the infection, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified a bat rabies virus variant as the cause.
He ultimately died 17 days after admission to the hospital, having had no history of allergies, tick bites, or recent international travel. Rabies remains a rare but deadly disease in Canada, with 28 human deaths recorded since 1924. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association stresses that widespread vaccination programmes are essential to keep the disease at bay and that post‑exposure prophylaxis is needed immediately after any contact with bats.
For more details, read the Canadian Medical Association Journal report updated last week.
Source image: 
