| ■ Vampire Bat-Related Death First in U.S., CDC Says | 2011.08.15 |
| The death of a migrant farm worker who was infected with rabies after being bitten by a vampire bat is the first such case in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 19-year-old victim was bitten on the heel by a vampire bat in Michoacan, Mexico on July 15, 2010, 10 days before he left to pick sugar cane at a plantation in Louisiana, Agence France-Presse reported. He became ill in late July and died a few weeks later. "This case represents the first reported human death from a vampire bat rabies virus variant in the United States," said the article published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Vampire bats are currently limited to Latin America but they could move into the southern U.S. as a result of climate change, according to the CDC, AFP reported. |