A man from Illinois passed away from rabies after a bat bit him inside his home. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, this is the state’s first rabies death in 57 years.
While sleeping in his own home, the 80-year-old man awoke to the sensation of the bite. The bat was quickly captured and taken to public health officials for testing. While the man did go to the hospital, he refused standard rabies treatment.
According to the state’s Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the rabies diagnosis after testing at its lab.
Weeks later the man began to experience the classic symptoms of rabies. He was suffering from neck pain, a headache, arm numbness, and difficulty speaking. It’s a heartbreaking situation that could have been avoided with proper care.
It’s unclear why the man refused treatment. Others who came into contact with the bat’s secretions, on the other hand, were given rabies vaccine.
Human rabies cases are extremely rare. There are only one to three reported each year, but approximately 60,000 people receive post-exposure preventative treatment each year.
Bat bites can be difficult to detect, so if you’ve been in close proximity to a bat, seek treatment.
Watch the full news report in the video below.