Brantford, Ont.-area child dies from rabies after contact with a bat - first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967

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Dr. Malcolm Lock of the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit told councillors at a board of health meeting Wednesday that the child had been exposed to the virus in the Timiskaming region, just north of Sudbury.

"They woke up with a bat in their room," Lock said. "The parents looked, didn't see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva, and didn't seek getting a rabies vaccine."

Brantford, Ont.-area child dies from rabies after contact with a bat, health official says

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Rabies is the deadliest disease in the world and is listed as having a 100% fatality rate.

WHO - Rabies

Anecdotally, I've long heard that bats have such fine teeth it is possible to have been bitten without realizing it. If you've been in close contact with a bat, it is best to go get a rabies booster.

Unrelated, but the same goes for possible tetanus exposure. Yes, we all got the shot as kids, but you're supposed to get a booster each time you may have been exposed.

 

[LadyL]

I just had a bat incident about a month ago. It got in the house and the cats had it surrounded. All cats had to be rabies boosted since they potentially touched the bat. We put it outside in a towel and after a minute, it flew away (we thought it was dead). I used to work with bats and have very little fear of them. It came almost 4 years to the day we had the same thing occur.

from the article:

It is the first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967 and the first ever of a Brantford-Brant resident.

Since reporting began in 1924, there have been 26 cases of rabies in Canada, some of which occurred after exposure to a rabid animal outside the country, according to the federal government. All 26 cases were fatal.