Lake County Man Dies From First Case Of Rabies In Illinois Since 1954, After Waking Up With Bat On Neck
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
CHICAGO (CBS) — The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported the first human case of rabies in the state since 1954 in a man who died after apparently being bitten by a bat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the diagnosis after testing at its lab, the department said.
In mid-August, a Lake County man in his 80s woke up to find a bat on his neck, the department said. The bat was captured and went on to test positive for rabies.
This month, the man started experiencing symptoms associated with rabies - including neck pain, a headache, numbness, difficult controlling his arms, finger numbness, and difficulty speaking. The man has since died.
People who had contact with secretions from the man were assessed and given rabies preventative treatment as needed, the department said.
"Rabies has the highest mortality rate of any disease," IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a news release. "However, there is life-saving treatment for individuals who quickly seek care after being exposed to an animal with rabies. If you think you may have been exposed to rabies, immediately seek medical attention and follow the recommendations of health care providers and public health officials."
Human cases of rabies are rare, with one to three cases reported nationwide each year. But rabies exposures remain common, and an estimated 60,000 Americans receive post-exposure vaccines each year. The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system and causes disease and brain death, the department noted.
Bats are the most commonly-identified animals with rabies in Illinois. A bat colony was found in the home of the man who died.
While people usually know if they have been bitten by a bat, bats also have very small teeth and bite marks can be hard to see, the department said. If you find yourself near a bat and aren't sure if you were exposed - such as if you wake up to find a bat in your room - you should not release the bat as it needs to be captured for rabies testing.
You should also call your doctor or local health department to determine whether you have been exposed to rabies and need preventative treatment, as well as your animal care and control department to remove the bat safely.
A total of 30 bats have tested positive for rabies this year in Illinois.
The IDPH has information on rabies, as well as keeping bats out of your home.
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YIKES !
At least!!!!
I did not know that you may not realize you've been bitten by a bat.
Good information
A few hundred years ago they would have buried this guy with a rock crammed in his mouth.
True story?
I thought it was a stake in his heart and garlic in his mouth?
Sometimes they used to stake suspected vampires down in their coffins in some places but it was rare. It was far more common to jam a large rock or brick into their mouths, they did that all over Europe for a thousand years.
What was the point of a rock? Was it too keep the evil soul from escaping?
That's one theory archaeologists have. You know how it goes with these superstitions and Folk remedies, why they did it and what effect it would have depended on the person doing it and they didn't write it down since they were poor illiterate peasants. The theories go, keep the evil soul from escaping, vampire can't feed so it can't rise, can't bite so it can't spread disease. It this case being bitten by a bat (on the neck no less)and dying would make them fear he would rise and bite and infect others. The beliefs they had in vampire type beings were varied and predated Bram Stoker's Dracula so they were different from place to place since they didn't have a definitive example of what a vampire was supposed to be.
Thanks for that!
He should have sought treatment right away. If the bat was on his neck he should have assumed he was exposed
I don't get this. So the man had a bat on him, they tested the bat; the bat was positive for rabies and this was back in August.
So since August, people knew the bat had rabies but never thought to test or check the man? So for over a month nothing was done.
You can't test for rabies until the infected animal/person dies because they examine brain tissue for the spirochete that causes it.
But he should have been vaxxed against it
The bat should have been immediately euthanized and a necropsy conducted. Although the series of shots for rabies is painful, he should have been started on them until the test results came back. One of my duty stations in the Army (SF) was going to have me working in an animal lab and I was told I would have to go through the series of shots as a preventative measure. Thankfully they changed my duty at the last minute and I went back to the main lab.
I have heard of Wildlife Control Officers that get the shots because they go in caves to do bat counts.
Yes and my hat is off to them for going through that pain.
OK, once they found out the bat had rabies, why didn't they give him a rabies vaccination? IN FACT, that should have been the first order of things.
My daughter got bitten by a stray cat and she got one immediately.
There must be something more to this story.
I thought rabies was eradicated in this country, lol
Is there a vaccine?
No, rabies is alive and well in the US. There is a vaccine that they give wild animals in the way of an edible and also a shot post-bite.
Nope. My 2 furr babies just got their shots. They give rabies shots even to indoor kitties
It is supposed to be in the UK, they say it is and has been since just after WW1. They say canine infections are picked up in foreign lands. I would think a bird or bat could bring it over but even that would be rare for a sick animal to make that flight. They do it by preventing the import of potentially infected animals without a six-month quarantine period. I wouldn't trust it 100%, if I got bit by a bat in the UK I'm still getting the shots.