The man was sleeping in his rural home last August when a bat entered the house and bit him on the shoulder. The man, whom health officials have not identified, apparently realized he had been bitten but did not immediately seek medical help.

In January, he experienced pain in his shoulder where the bite occurred. He has since developed symptoms of rabies, including paralysis, difficulty swallowing and convulsions. He is in serious condition in hospital, but there is little doctors can do for him now.

"There's no specific treatment once the neurological symptoms occur," said Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer.

"We want to emphasize that if someone is exposed to a wild animal, they should seek medical treatment," she said. "That's the important message from this unfortunate case."

The treatment for people bitten by a potentially rabid animal consists of a series of shots given over a month. The injections, called post-exposure prophylaxis, are "close to 100percent effective if they are given close to the time of the bite," Grimsrud said.

The last time an Albertan died of rabies was in 1985 when a bat bit a 25-year-old Calgary man while he was working near Smith, 220 kilometres north of Edmonton. He died in Vancouver about five months after being infected.

In 2005, almost 130 people across Alberta received the post-exposure treatment. Most of those people had been bitten by dogs or cats that could not be located and observed for rabies symptoms, said Grimsrud.

While there is no known case of rabies being transmitted between humans, health officials are investigating whether anyone had direct contact with the bodily fluids or saliva of the man after he was infected with the disease. The general public is not at risk, Grimsrud said.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c9273f82-4ca9-4d2f-883e-2577cd0892e3&k=93980

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/03/02/rabies-alberta.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070305.wxrabies05/BNStory/Front/home

Submitted on 03/12/2007

Submitted by: paul childs
Reference: canada.com and others March 3, 2007

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Chip said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
While the write-up is not especially humorous, most people know that: 1. bats are one of the worst carriers of rabies, 2. anyone bitten by a wild animal should be treated immediately and 3. rabies is always fatal unless immmediately treated with the shot series. When my son was working for his Masters in Zoology he was doing a study on some very small bats. When the university learned that neither he not his two assistants were wearing gloves, they all had to get the shots. Even though this victim was accidentally bitten he failed to seek the required treatment and the outcome of this one is certain. Thanks for the story, Paul

Bruce said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
As Chip said, bats are known rabies carriers and not seeking medical attention after being bitten is foolish. While not all that amusing I'll still vote for a DA. Thanks, Paul.

Shadow said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Had he seeked medical attention, he wouldn't be here, so I vote him in for the Darwin. Thanks for the submission!

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