A case report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) describes the death from rabies of an 11-year-old boy from Ontario in 2024, after an encounter with a bat at a family cabin. He awoke with the bat on his face, removed it, and his father later captured and released the animal. The family did not realize a bite might have occurred, and the boy received no medical care until symptoms developed. Pediatric infectious-disease physician Brian Hummel of McMaster Children’s Hospital, senior author of the report, described rabies in Canada as “an extraordinarily rare infection.”
Nineteen days after the encounter, the boy developed tingling and numbness on the right side of his face, along with facial swelling. He also lost his appetite. Vomiting and painful swallowing led to an emergency-room visit, where early assessments included herpes infection and Bell’s palsy. His condition worsened within a day. He developed speech difficulties and fever, followed by confusion and visual hallucinations. Doctors then linked the illness to the earlier bat contact, and laboratory testing confirmed rabies. Despite intensive treatment, he deteriorated rapidly and died.
The Canadian Press reported that 28 human rabies cases had been reported in Canada since 1924. The Ontario boy was the country’s most recent human case in that account; the preceding fatality was a British Columbia man who died after bat exposure in 2019. These figures refer to human cases, not rabies-positive animals identified through surveillance. In British Columbia, bats are the only known rabies reservoirs, although the virus can spill over into other animals, including skunks. The two fatal cases show why an encounter can warrant assessment even when no bite or scratch is visible.
Public-health guidance advises people not to wait for symptoms after possible bat contact. A bite can be difficult to detect, so the immediate response is to wash any affected area thoroughly with soap and water, then contact a medical professional or public-health authority. Clinicians and public-health officials assess the exposure and determine whether testing is needed, or whether post-exposure prophylaxis is appropriate. Treatment before symptoms begin can prevent rabies. It generally involves wound care and rabies vaccination, with rabies immunoglobulin when indicated. Once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is almost invariably fatal.
Rabies is caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. Although human cases are rare in Canada, bat exposure remains a impressive risk because contact can happen without a person noticing a wound. The World Health Organization estimates that tens of thousands of people die from rabies worldwide each year, mostly in regions where dog vaccination is less common. In Spain, rabies is considered eradicated in domestic animals, while authorities continue monitoring for imported cases and advise caution after animal bites abroad. Similar health emergencies, including the recent heatwave in Spain that resulted in more than a hundred deaths, have drawn attention to public awareness and timely medical action. For more on how extreme events can affect health outcomes, see this report on the deadly heatwave in Spain.
