Patient exposed to bat in Minnesota dies from rabies, officials say
A patient who was exposed to a bat in western Minnesota this year died from rabies this week, becoming the fifth person since 1975 to die from the treatable disease in the state, health officials said Friday.
The Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement that it was still investigating the death, and did not explicitly say that a bat had caused the rabies but confirmed that the patient was exposed to a bat in July.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the patient’s rabies diagnosis earlier this month. The Minnesota Department of Health said there was not a public health risk.
Fewer than 10 rabies deaths are reported annually in the United States, according to the CDC, and 70% of those deaths are attributed to exposure to bats.
Previous human cases in Minnesota – all of which were fatal – were recorded in 1917, 1964, 1975, 2000, 2007 and 2021, according to the department.
“If left untreated, rabies is almost always fatal,” the department said. “Rabies treatment has proven to be nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease after an exposure, but it must be started before symptoms of rabies appear.”
The patient in the most recent case was older than 65, but no other information, such as gender, place of residence or the nature of the interaction with the bat, was made public.
Officials at the Minnesota Health Department and the CDC did not immediately respond to requests seeking further information Saturday.
The Brant County Health Unit in Brantford, Ontario, this month reported Ontario’s first domestic human rabies case since 1967. That case was also believed to have been linked to a bat. The person who was exposed was hospitalized, the unit said.
Those exposed to rabies “are given an injection of rabies immune globulin and four doses of rabies vaccine over a two-week period,” the Minnesota Department of Health said.
In the United States, preventive vaccines are usually only recommended to people who are at high risk, such as those who work with animals or travel to parts of the world where rabies is common.
Experts emphasize the importance of getting treatment immediately after a possible exposure.
The incubation period for rabies is typically a couple of months but could be as fast as one week or delayed as long as a year, depending on factors such as where the virus enters the body and how large the viral load is, according to the World Health Organization.
Initial symptoms of rabies include “fever, pain and unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking or burning sensations at the wound site,” the organization says.
If left untreated, rabies can spread to the central nervous system where “fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops,” the organization says. Death is often caused by severe brain damage or cardiac arrest.
Bats have tiny teeth, so a bite mark may not appear, according to the Department of Environment, Health and Safety at the University of Michigan. Sometimes victims don’t even feel themselves being bit.
Pets are also known to contract and pass on rabies. Many municipalities have laws requiring pets that might be susceptible to rabies to get vaccinated.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.