A child has died from rabies after waking up to a bat in their bedroom, according to a Canadian health official.
The case in Brant County, southern Ontario, was confirmed a month ago, with the resident receiving hospital treatment.
It is the first case involving a human in Brant County – which is roughly 200km southwest of Toronto – and the first domestically-acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967.
This week, Dr Malcolm Lock, acting medical officer of health at the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, which covers a part of southern Ontario, revealed the patient was a child.
“Unfortunately, the case that we had here was a child and basically they woke up with a bat in the room,” he told a health board meeting in Norfolk County.
“The parents looked at the child, didn’t see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva and didn’t seek getting the rabies vaccine. So, unfortunately, that child is now deceased.”
Brant County Health Unit said last month the suspected exposure came from a bat in the Gowganda area of the Timiskaming region, further north in Ontario.
The health body warned bats “in all areas of Ontario are known to carry rabies”, while Dr Lock said the positivity rate for tested bats is 16% this year – an increase from 10% in previous years.
“So that’s another thing we’re trying to make the public aware of,” he added.
“If they have any communication with bats at all or wake up with a bat in their room then they should seek advice.”
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Cases of rabies are extremely rare in Canada, with just 26 recorded since 1924. However, all resulted in death.
In the UK, rabies is a “rare but serious infection” that is “almost always fatal once symptoms appear”, according to the NHS.
There have been 26 cases recorded in the UK since 1946 – all of which have involved people who were infected abroad.
What is rabies and how is it treated?
Rabies is caused by a virus invading the central nervous system.
It is spread by mammals – such as dogs, bats, raccoons and foxes – but in the UK it’s only found in some bats, according to the NHS.
Once symptoms appear, it is almost always fatal, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Symptoms include numbness or tingling at the affected area, hallucinations, anxiety, difficulty swallowing or breathing and paralysis.
But if seen to promptly after a bite, scratch or lick by an animal that may carry the virus, treatment is usually very effective at preventing the condition.
Treatment usually involves two or more doses of the rabies vaccine or a medicine called rabies immunoglobulin, which is a liquid administered to the wound and is only required if the patient has not had the rabies vaccine or has a weakened immune system.
The rabies vaccine is recommended if you’re travelling to a part of the world where rabies is more common.
Around 60,000 people die every year from rabies worldwide, with the majority in Africa, according to the WHO.
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Last month, a resident in Minnesota, in the US, died of rabies after coming into contact with a bat in July.
The person was over 65, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
