Health officials in Ontario are scrambling after the first human case of rabies was reported in the province for almost 60 years.
The case was confirmed on Friday by Brant County Health Unit, located west of Hamilton, which said it believed the exposure had come from a bat and led to someone being hospitalized.
“Our heartfelt thoughts are with this individual and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Dr. Rebecca Comley, medical officer of health in Brant County, said in a statement.
“Rabies, though rare, is a serious virus in humans. If you have direct contact with any animal known to carry rabies, you should seek immediate medical attention.”
Rabies, which is often carried by bats as well as raccoons, skunks and foxes, is a viral infection that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It is spread when humans come in direct contact with saliva or mucus from an animal with rabies.
Transmission of rabies from one human to another has never been documented, according to the public health unit.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, stressed that human rabies is “extremely rare” and has been kept low through “effective public health prevention and control measures.”
There have only ever been 26 human cases of rabies across the whole of Canada since 1924. Four exposures have been reported since 2000, according the Health Canada, the most recent coming from B.C. in 2019.
For those who are exposed to rabies, “immediate” medical care is vital, Moore said.
“Post-exposure medical care includes washing the area with soap and water as soon as possible, a dose of rabies immune globulin and a series of rabies vaccines which must be administered as soon as possible after exposure,” he added.
“This treatment is nearly 100 per cent effective when administered promptly.”
The government said it was not releasing more details of the incident to protect the privacy of the individual who had been hospitalized.