Illinois man who woke up with BAT on his neck dies of rabies - in state's first human case since 1954
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Tuesday reported a man had died from rabies in what is the first human case of the disease in the state since 1954.
The department announced that a man in his 80s from Lake County, IL had died on Tuesday, just over a month after he said he woke up one day in mid-August to find a bat clinging to his neck.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the diagnosis after testing at its lab, and said the man had started experiencing symptoms associated with rabies including neck pain, a headache, difficulty controlling his limbs, slurred speech and numbness in his extremities.
Rabies has one of the highest mortality rates of any disease, as virtually 100% of patients who exhibit symptoms die within weeks.
Though there is a vaccine for rabies and treatment options that can prevent death, treatment needs to be administered immediately after a victim has been exposed to the disease.
Once a victim begins to exhibit symptoms, it is typically too late to save them.
A man in his 80s from Lake County, IL had died on Tuesday, just over a month after he said he woke up one day in mid-August to find a bat clinging to his neck
Bats are known to carry the disease, but dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99% of all rabies transmissions to humans according to the World Health Organisation
Healthcare workers and others who had contact with secretions from the man were assessed and given rabies preventative treatment as needed, reported CBS News.
IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said: 'There is life-saving treatment for individuals who quickly seek care after being exposed to an animal with rabies.
'If you think you may have been exposed to rabies, immediately seek medical attention and follow the recommendations of health care providers and public health officials.'
Human cases of rabies are rare, with one to three cases reported nationwide each year.
But rabies exposures remain common, and an estimated 60,000 Americans receive post-exposure vaccines each year.
The news from Illinois comes amid reports from Anchorage, Alaska that a group of river otters have suddenly begun exhibiting extremely aggressive behaviour, attacking passers-by and their pets, with rabies cited as one possible cause.
According to the state's Department of Fish and Game, a nine-year-old boy received a rabies shot after he was attacked by a group of four river otters near Dowling and Lake Otis.
His mother Tiffany shared images of the bites to her son's legs on neighborhood social networking site Nextdoor, warning locals to stay away from the lake.
Nine -year-old Ayden was taken to an emergency room for a rabies shot after being bitten several times near a duck pond on Carriage Drive. His mother shared images of the bites to the local community
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