Overview
- During a stay in northern Ontario in summer 2024 the boy woke with a bat on his nose and mouth, his father captured and released the animal, no visible bite was seen, and the family did not seek medical care.
- Nineteen days after the contact the child developed facial numbness, vomiting and feeding problems, was misdiagnosed at initial visits and discharged, and his condition then rapidly worsened.
- While hospitalized clinicians suspected rabies and a PCR test on the fourth hospital day confirmed infection; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified a bat‑associated rabies virus variant and the child died after 17 days in hospital.
- Public‑health experts note human rabies is very rare in Canada (28 cases since 1924) but nearly always fatal after neurologic symptoms, and they urge immediate medical evaluation and post‑exposure prophylaxis after any direct bat contact because treatment before symptoms is highly effective.
- The boy’s parents publicized the CMAJ report to raise awareness, and the case is likely to prompt clinicians and health authorities to more urgently evaluate overnight or facial bat exposures and to reconsider early testing and prophylaxis protocols.