An 11-year-old boy died after contracting rabies from a bat in a rare occurrence as health experts have issued warnings, calling the dire incident 'a wake up call'.
The fatal bite took place in Northern Ontario where the boy had been staying during the summer of 2024.
The boy was peacefully sleeping when he suddenly awoke to find a bat perched directly on his face, covering his nose and mouth, according to the case report.
Without thinking, he swatted the animal away. His father captured it and released it back outside.
At the time, the family claimed they had no reason to believe there had been a bite, scratch or cause for concern.
The boy appeared completely normal, uninjured with no blood, no puncture marks and no visible trauma – so they did not seek urgent medical care.
That decision would prove fatal.
An 11-year-old boy has died after he was exposed through skin to skin contact to a bat carrying rabies
The boy was in northern Ontario when the fatal incident happened, however at the time the child's family suspected nothing ominous and continued with everyday life
Roughly 19 days later, the boy began to feel unwell, developing worrying symptoms.
What started as vague discomfort rapidly escalated into serious neurological illness, including bouts of tingling and numbness on one side of his face and persistent vomiting.
Due to the family's insistence of no bite history, doctors initially explored more common causes but as his condition rapidly deteriorated rabies was eventually diagnosed.
Catastrophically, the prolonging of the diagnosis meant the disease had already taken hold of his nervous system.
He was admitted to hospital and placed under intensive care but as with all symptomatic rabies cases, treatment could not halt the progression of the virus.
Despite more than two weeks of aggressive supportive care, his condition continued to worsen and life support was ultimately withdrawn.
The child tragically died, surrounded by his family.
They agreed to publicize the case in the hope that it prevents another tragedy.
Devastatingly, the diagnosis came all too late as the boy's health had deteriorated and he died surrounded by his grief-stricken loved ones
Experts involved in the case say the most alarming aspect is how easily the exposure can be missed.
Bats can carry rabies and their bites are often so microscopic that they leave no visible trace.
'It was important to us and to the family to take the opportunity to find learning experiences and lessons that we could take from his case to try and help spread awareness and understanding of rabies infection and risks,' said Dr Brian Hummel, a pediatric infectious disease specialist involved in the case.
He stressed that the absence of a wound doesn't mean there was no exposure and warned that even brief skin contact, particularly on the face should trigger immediate medical assessment for post exposure rabies treatment.
The case, now published in the Canadian Medical Association's Journal, marks Ontario's first locally acquired human rabies infection since 1967 and is only one of a handful of human rabies cases recorded in Canada.
However bats continue to be a known reservoir of the deadly virus and are the leading cause of human rabies deaths in the United States despite under one percent of the wild species actually carrying the virus, according to the Center for Disease Control.
