A man has died from an “extremely rare” rabies-like infection transmitted by a bat bite – only three previous cases of human infection by the Australian bat lyssavirus having been recorded since it was first identified in 1996, and all of them fatal, reports ABC News.
The victim, in his 50s, was bitten by the bat several months ago, according to the health service in New South Wales.
Officials said he had been treated after the bite, and they were investigating to see whether other exposures or factors played a role in his illness.
Trish Paterson, a wildlife carer for more than 30 years who ran the Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre in Queensland, said bat-to-human transmission of the disease was “very rare”.
“Once you get it you pretty much die …But if you don’t touch (a) bat, you can’t get bitten or scratched. There’s no other way to get lyssavirus other than (from) a bite or a scratch.”
She said it was worrying the man had been treated for a bat bite but still developed the disease.
“If he received treatment directly after the bite, and still contracted the virus, that would be a little bit concerning,” she said.
NSW Health says urgent medical assessment is crucial after a bite or scratch, often requiring treatment with rabies immunoglobulin and the rabies vaccine.
In Australia, 118 people required medical assessment after they were bitten or scratched by bats last year.
A close relative of rabies – which does not exist in Australia – the virus is transmitted when the bat saliva enters the human body: symptoms can take days or years to appear. Early signs are flu-like – a headache, fever, and fatigue, but the victim’s condition rapidly deteriorates, leading to paralysis, delirium, convulsions, and death.
The virus was first identified in May 1996 by scientists at the national science agency CSIRO, who examined brain tissue from a flying fox that had been showing “nervous signs” in New South Wales.
Later that year, a bat handler in Queensland became ill.
“The initial numbness and weakness in her arm progressed to coma and death,” the science agency said.
Two further cases in Queensland – a woman in 1998 and an eight-year-old boy in 2013 – resulted in death after the victims were bitten or scratched by a bat.
ABC News article – NSW man dies from 'rabies-like' lyssavirus after bat bite (Open access)
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