Boy, 11, wakes with bat on face, dies weeks later — doctors issue urgent rabies warning
Doctors urge immediate care after any bat contact, even without visible bites
An 11-year-old Canadian boy died from rabies after waking to find a bat resting on his nose and mouth while sleeping at a family cottage.
This has prompted physicians to warn that any direct contact with a bat should be treated as a potential rabies exposure — even if there are no visible bite or scratch marks.
The case, which occurred in northern Ontario in the summer of 2024, was detailed in a peer-reviewed report published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The authors said they released the report to raise awareness and help prevent similar deaths, the BBC reported.
According to the report, the boy awoke to find a bat lying across his nose and mouth.
He swatted it away — and his father caught the animal in a container before releasing it outside.
No bite, scratch marks
Because the child had no apparent bite or scratch marks and the bat did not appear to be behaving abnormally, the family did not seek immediate medical care or rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
Nineteen days later, the boy developed tingling, numbness and swelling on one side of his face. His symptoms initially resembled more common conditions, leading doctors to suspect illnesses such as Bell's palsy and viral mouth infections.
Anyone who wakes up with a bat in the room, has direct contact with a bat, or cannot rule out a bite should immediately consult public health authorities to determine whether rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is needed.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that bats are the leading source of human rabies deaths in the United States.
Bat bites can be extremely small and may go unnoticed.
A bat should not be released until health officials determine whether it should be tested for rabies.
As the boy's condition rapidly deteriorated, he developed a high fever, difficulty swallowing, confusion and visual hallucinations before being admitted to intensive care. Laboratory testing later confirmed rabies caused by a bat-associated virus variant.
He died 17 days after hospitalisation.
The physicians emphassed that rabies is almost invariably fatal once symptoms begin, but it is also highly preventable if post-exposure treatment is started promptly after a potential exposure.
They recommend that any direct human contact with a bat, even without visible injuries, should immediately be discussed with local public health authorities so that PEP can be considered.
Health experts say the case underscores a simple but potentially life-saving message: if a bat makes direct contact with a person — especially someone who was asleep, unconscious or unable to recognise a bite — seek medical attention immediately.
Human rabies
Human rabies remains exceptionally rare in Canada.
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association says only 28 human rabies deaths have been recorded in the country since 1924, largely because of vaccination programs and rapid post-exposure treatment.
However, bats remain the leading source of human rabies infections in North America because their bites and scratches can be so small that they go unnoticed.
Early treatment with rabies vaccine and immune globulin is highly effective before symptoms develop, but once clinical rabies appears, there is no proven cure.
