Bat bite kills Texas boy after first rabies case in years trends now
A Texas boy died from rabies after being bitten by a bat, health officials revealed today.
The child, aged seven, had picked up a bat outside his apartment in Medina County, Texas in late August 2021.
He told his parents he had been bitten, but they put off taking him to hospital because were no teeth marks and he did not initially show symptoms.
Over two months he suffered a host of symptoms including vomiting and delusions, and after being misdiagnosed with shingles, died in October.
His death - one of five fatal rabies cases in 2021 - was revealed today by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).
It marks the highest number in a decade. There had not been a single infection in 2019 or 2020.
It comes as the CDC warned in May that rabies could sneak back into the US through imported animals from high-risk countries.
The boy was playing outside his apartment in Medina County, Texas when he was bitten by a bat last year. He was one of five rabies deaths in 2021 — the highest number in the US in a decade
Bats are most often the cause of rabies in the US, despite people usually associating the disease with dogs
Rabies is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal.
Rabid animals can include dogs, bats, coyotes, foxes, skunks and raccoons.
The disease is one of the world's most deadly diseases, and is fatal in over 99 percent of cases.
Once rabies is established in a person, there is no effective treatment.
Because of this, people need to get a series of shots as soon as they think they have been exposed to rabies.
The boy did not receive the preventative treatment for rabies, known as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), despite having told his parents of the bite.
The family did not realize that contact alone without bite marks could cause rabies.
The boy attended school and went about his normal life, without
