Overview
- The patient was an 11-year-old boy who, during a cottage stay in summer 2024, woke to find a bat on his nose and mouth and the family did not seek care because no bite marks were visible.
- Nineteen days after the encounter he developed progressive facial tingling, numbness and vomiting and was initially treated for presumed herpes or Bell’s palsy, which delayed recognition of rabies.
- Clinicians suspected rabies after rapid neurological decline; a PCR test on the fourth day of admission confirmed rabies and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified a bat rabies virus variant.
- The child lost brainstem function and life-sustaining therapies were withdrawn on hospital day 17; the CMAJ report published June 29, 2026, has led public-health reminders about evaluating any direct bat contact for timely post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
- Human rabies is very rare in Canada, bats are the main reservoir in North America, bat teeth can leave no visible marks, and timely PEP consisting of wound care, vaccine doses and immune globulin is highly effective if given before symptoms.