Following direct contact with a bat or exposure to a potentially rabid animal, seek immediate medical attention to assess the need for post-exposure treatment.
James Pascual
Farmers Forum
OTTAWA — Bats continue to be by far the main carriers of rabies and the only animal to infect humans in Ontario in at least 10 years.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tested 132 animal samples in Ontario last month and found rabies in 12 cases — all from bats.
As of the end of October, there were 75 rabid bats reported in the province so far this year. There have been 119 rabid animal cases across the country — 111 of them were infected bats.
The non-bat cases included rabid arctic foxes (one in Manitoba and one in Nunavut) and also in Manitoba, four skunks and one dog.
The CFIA reported that rabies cases in animals have declined since 2000 and animal rabies has been found in Ontario primarily in bats, raccoons and skunks.
Prior to the fatal case of a rabid bat-infected boy in Brantford, Ontario this year, there has not been a reported case of a human dying from rabies for almost 60 years. In 1967, a rabies-infected human died after being infected by a non-flying animal.
According to the CFIA, rabies in humans is extremely rare and that from 1924 only 28 Canadians contracted full-blown rabies, including 9 in Ontario. All 28 cases were fatal.
Treatment for rabies must be early and requires multiple injections of rabies post-exposure vaccine, Health Canada reports. You’ll also need to receive an injection of antibodies to help your body fight the virus.
Prior to this year’s fatal case, the last case of a rabies-infected human in Ontario was in 2012 and was caused by exposure outside of Canada. The victim was treated early — within a few days — and survived.
Excluding this year’s fatality, only six people in Canada have been treated for rabies since 2000. Out of caution, many more people have been treated after coming into contact with an animal and in most cases the animal was not retrieved for testing.
Once infected with rabies a human can live up to several months but when symptoms occur, death is imminent within seven to 14 days, Health Canada says.
