Wyoming woman dies of rabies after bat bite
Every year in Wyoming, around 15-20 people are bitten by bats and go through post-exposure rabies vaccination.
Wyoming officials have confirmed that a woman who was bitten by a bat has died after contracting what is thought to be the state's first case of rabies.
Fremont County's daily newspaper, The Ranger, reports that a 77 year old woman from the town of Lander contracted the disease after suffering a bat bite in August.
She began showing symptoms a few weeks later and was sent to Lander hospital for treatment. She was later transferred to a hospital in Salt Lake City where she died on Saturday (3 October).
It is thought to be the first case of human rabies ever identified in Wyoming, as well as the first fatality. Figures released by the Centres for Disease Control indicate that it could be the first human rabies death in the nation since 2013.
Interviews are taking place with people who have had contact with the woman to see if anyone else is in danger of contracting the virus, which can be spread through bodily fluids.
Officials are not considering the situation as an emergency at this time as it can take many months for symptoms to develop after someone has been exposed to rabies, and vaccinations are effective at any point before symptoms arise.
Every year in Wyoming, around 15-20 people are bitten by bats and go through post-exposure rabies vaccination. However, it is unusual for humans to develop symptoms and die of the virus.
Karl Musgrave, a vet from the Wyoming Department of of Health, told The Ranger: "Human rabies is really rare…because there is so much effort to identify people that need the rabies shots. If we didn't have those efforts in place, we'd have a lot more human rabies."
He added that most of the recorded human rabies deaths over the years have been due to bat exposure. He stressed the importance of vaccinating pets against rabies:
"These bats can also bite dogs, cats and other animals. Once you have a pet with rabies, they can spread it to a lot of other humans and animals, and then you have a big problem."
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