A RABIES DEATH IN SOUTH CAROLINA IS A CAUTIONARY TALE : HOW RABIES CAN BE CONTRACTED WITHOUT OBVIOUS SIGNS OF BITES

 

A very rare case of Rabies in South Carolina has highlighted how a person who seems to not have been bitten, or to not have had direct contact with an infected animal, can succumb to the disease.

Rabies is still a very rare disease.  Only one or two persons a year, in a population pool of nearly 300 million is affected each year.  But it is an insidious disease, which gives no clues until it is too late, so early detection is essential.

The case in South Carolina is a stark reminder, because the victim, a woman, was not bitten in a way that was obvious, so she never sought treatment or thought herself at risk.

What caused her disease was a little bat, one of many that had apparently infested her house.  She had sought help from the local health authorities, but received little guidance on how to handle the problem.

One morning she awoke to find a bat in the bedroom, hanging from the curtains.  She opened the windows and shooed him out.  She probably thought nothing of it, until months later, when she suddenly developed the symptoms of the disease.  Unfortunately rabies is no longer treatable once symptoms ensue, and she died shortly thereafter. 

What had happened in her case, was that the small bat might have bitten her in her sleep. Bats have very small teeth, whose mark are often not distinguishable.  In addition, rabies is transmissible through the saliva of an infected animal so that exposure could occur through broken skin or mucosal contact with the infected saliva.  Bats are known to bite during the night, without the victim being aware of it.

The health authorities however, should have alerted her to the risk of having indoor bats.  It is known that the presence of bats within the house is a risk factor for rabies.  If anyone does see bats in the house, or under the eaves, in close proximity with living spaces, he/she  should call an expert to remove the animals and seek treatment for possible rabies exposure.

It is not just the animal who is visibly ill with rabies that can transmit the disease.  Bats, for example, are healthy carriers of the pathogen, so that they give no indication of the illness to begin with.  But when in contact with wildlife, one should always assess one's own risk of exposure to rabies. 

Source : LiveScience/  8.15.13