An 11-year-old Canadian boy died from rabies after being exposed to a bat while sleeping during a family trip to a cottage in Ontario, according to a case report published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The incident occurred in 2024 when the boy woke to find a bat on his nose and mouth. He swatted it away, and his father caught the animal in a container before releasing it outside. As the child had no visible bite marks or scratches and the bat did not appear to behave unusually, his family did not seek immediate medical attention.
Nineteen days later, the boy developed numbness and swelling on one side of his face. Over the next few days, he was taken to multiple healthcare facilities as doctors worked to determine the cause of his symptoms.
An emergency clinic initially treated him for what was believed to be Bell's palsy, prescribing antiviral medication commonly used for herpes virus infections. During subsequent hospital visits, doctors also considered herpes gingivostomatitis, a viral infection affecting the mouth and gums.
His condition deteriorated rapidly. While awaiting admission to hospital, he developed a high fever of 39°C (102°F), difficulty swallowing, confusion and visual hallucinations. He was later intubated and admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit.
Doctors at the University of Manitoba's Department of Pediatrics and Child Health suspected rabies, and laboratory testing later confirmed the diagnosis. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified the infection as a bat rabies virus variant.
The boy died 17 days after being admitted to hospital.
According to the report, he had no history of allergies, recent travel outside Canada, tick bites or contact with sick individuals.
Human rabies cases are extremely rare in Canada. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association says there have been only 28 rabies-related deaths in the country since 1924, largely due to widespread vaccination programmes.
Medical experts emphasise that any direct contact with a bat should be treated as a potential rabies exposure. They recommend immediate post-exposure prophylaxis, as rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin to appear.
