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

A toddler from the Brantford, Ont., space has died from rabies, says a neighborhood medical officer of well being. 

Dr. Malcolm Lock of the Haldimand-Norfolk Well being Unit advised councillors at a board of well being assembly Wednesday that the kid had been uncovered to the virus within the Timiskaming area, simply north of Sudbury. 

“They awoke with a bat of their room,” Lock stated. “The dad and mom appeared, did not see any indicators of a chew or scratches or saliva, and did not search getting a rabies vaccine.” 

Final month, the kid was in hospital. No different particulars, together with the kid’s age, have been launched.

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

This case demonstrates that rabies, which may trigger extreme harm to the mind and spinal wire, remains to be circulating, Lock stated. 

This yr, 16 per cent of bats within the Haldimand-Norfolk space have examined constructive for rabies, in comparison with fewer than 10 per cent in earlier years, stated Lock. 

“It is extraordinarily vital anybody who has a type of publicity [to bats] seeks medical consideration,” he stated.

Remedy must be sought immediately after contact with bats, even when there aren’t any indicators of a chew or rabies signs, stated Lock. 

Remedies embrace a dose of rabies immune globulin and a sequence of rabies vaccines, which should be administrated as quickly as potential after publicity, Lock stated. The therapies are almost 100 per cent efficient.

Bat bites are simply missed: veterinary prof

Since reporting started in 1924, there have been 26 instances of rabies in Canada, a few of which occurred after publicity to a rabid animal outdoors the nation, based on the federal authorities.  All 26 instances had been deadly. 

Whereas different wild animals resembling raccoons, skunks, foxes and canines can grow to be contaminated, rabid bats have triggered virtually all human instances of rabies in Canada. 

“We all know bats have rabies,” stated Prof. Scott Weese of the College of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary School. 

“We must always take into account each bat to be carrying rabies and steer clear of it.” 

Bats have small tooth and their bites may be simply missed, Weese stated. 

If individuals do come into contact with a bat, or are bitten by any mammal, they need to contact their public well being division for recommendation, he added.

WATCH | It is uncommon for individuals to catch rabies in Canada: 

Ontario little one dies from rabies after contact with bat: well being official | Canada Tonight

A toddler from the Brantford, Ont., space has died from rabies, says a neighborhood medical officer of well being. It’s the first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967 and the primary ever of a Brantford-Brant resident.