Overview
- In summer 2024 an 11-year-old boy at a northern Ontario cottage woke to find a bat on his face, the family saw no visible bite and did not seek medical care.
- Nineteen days after the encounter he developed numbness, vomiting and other vague symptoms, was misdiagnosed initially, deteriorated rapidly in hospital and died after life support was withdrawn.
- The case was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in late June 2026 and the authors say it is Ontario’s first locally acquired human rabies case since 1967.
- Doctors stress that post-exposure prophylaxis consists of an immediate dose of human rabies immune globulin plus a vaccine series and that PEP given before symptoms is highly effective at preventing death.
- Human rabies is rare in Canada but most recent cases are linked to bats, which have very small teeth that can leave invisible wounds, so public-health authorities advise capturing and testing a bat when safe and seeking prompt medical advice after any direct contact.