Rare Bat Virus Leads To Death Of A French Man, First Such Death Since 1985

A French man has died of a rare form of rabies that he reportedly caught from bats which had been living in his attic, Daily Star reported.

The man, who was reportedly in his 60s, died in Limoges, France, the National Rabies Reference Center has confirmed. This is the first event of its type in France, one which sure will raise a few eyebrows.

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The now deceased man was rushed to Limoges University Hospital in August 2019 with doctors saying they now believe he was bitten or scratched by a bat that nested in his attic.

The man tragically died at hospital with doctors at the time listing his official cause of death as encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, but medical experts said it was of unexplained origin.

As the origin was unexplained, samples were sent to the Parisian Necker hospital and the Institut Pasteur, aimed at identifying the causes of undocumented encephalitis.

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The genetic study of post-mortem samples has contributed to a collaboration between the Parisian Necker Hospital and the Institut Pasteur to discover undocumented encephalitis causes. These tests revealed that he had acquired a bat-hosted lyssavirus, the European Bat Lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1).

The genus Lyssavirus includes the rabies virus traditionally associated with that disease.

This exceptional case has only now finally come to light after it's inclusion in a science article on mesvaccins.net and was subsequently highlighted by the regional daily Le Populaire du Center.

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It has been 35 years since the planet has witnessed the death of this kind. According to Laurent Dacheux, a researcher at the Institut Pasteur, this situation is also the first case in mainland France.

It is being said that there was a similar death in Russia in 1985. Two other fatalities involving chiropterologists involving another bat lyssavirus species, EBLV-2, were recorded in Finland in 1985. The patient who passed away in Limoges, Dacheux estimated, was apparently in touch with bats nesting in his attic.

The researcher points out that in France, rabies has been formally eradicated since 2001. "The last case concerning non-flying animals referred to in France dates back to 1998."

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