Boy dies from rabies after waking up to bat on his face

(NewsNation) — An 11-year-old from Canada has died after contracting rabies following contact with a bat.

According to a June Canadian Medical Association Journal report, the unnamed boy died several weeks after the bat landed on his face while vacationing with family in Northern Ontario in the summer of 2024.

The bat was reportedly on his nose and face when he woke up, and he swatted it away before his father caught it and later released it.

Due to a lack of evident scratches and bite marks, the boy was left untreated for approximately 19 days before he began to develop facial numbness and vomit consistently.

An urgent care reportedly treated him for Bell’s palsy before his condition worsened. The family took him to an emergency department, where he received treatment for rabies after doctors learned of his interaction with the bat.

Notwithstanding the care, the boy’s condition worsened, and he died 17 days after being admitted to the hospital.

According to the CDC, rabies is almost entirely preventable with early care. It is transmitted through bites and scratches of an animal infected with the disease.

It centrally affects a person’s central nervous system, leading to “severe brain disease and death” without care before the onset of symptoms.