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  1. #1
    The Lightbringer Romire's Avatar
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    Teen dies by Bat bite.

    http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/8284986/first-death-by-vampire-bat-in-us


    A teenager from Mexico became the first person in the United States to die after being bitten by a vampire bat and infected with rabies, US health authorities have said.
    The 19-year-old man was a migrant farm worker who had been bitten on the heel by a vampire bat in his native Michoacan on July 15, 2010, 10 days before he left for the United States to pick sugar cane at a plantation in Louisiana.

    "This case represents the first reported human death from a vampire bat rabies virus variant in the United States," said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality weekly report.
    The unusually aggressive form of rabies had an incubation period of just 15 days, compared to the median 85 days seen in other cases of human rabies in the United States, the CDC said.

    Although vampire bat populations are currently confined to Latin America, climate change could be forcing their populations northward, leading to more cases of human infection in the southern United States, the CDC warned.
    The patient had never received a rabies vaccine and fell ill about two weeks after he was bitten by the blood-sucking creature.

    At the end of July, after one day of working in the fields, the man sought medical help for fatigue, shoulder pain, numbness in his left hand and a drooping left eye. He soon developed respiratory distress and a 38.4-degree fever.

    "During the next several days, the patient became gradually less responsive to external stimuli, developed fixed and dilated pupils, and began having episodes of bradycardia (slow heartbeat) and hypothermia," the CDC said.
    Tests showed he had developed encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. On August 20, samples of his spinal fluid confirmed a diagnosis of rabies.
    A subsequent brain scan revealed severe impairment. His family decided to take him off life support and the man died shortly after.

    Postmortem tests on his brain tissue "determined the variant to be a vampire bat rabies virus variant," the CDC said.
    The case "highlights the growing importance of bats in public health," added the CDC, urging the public to avoid contact with vampire bats and get vaccinated if possible.

    "Research suggests that the range of these bats might be expanding as a result of changes in climate," it said.
    "Expansion of vampire bats into the United States likely would lead to increased bat exposures to both humans and animals (including domestic livestock and wildlife species) and substantially alter rabies virus dynamics and ecology in the southern United States."
    The United States has documented a total of 32 cases of human rabies, mostly from a canine rabies variant, since the year 2000, eight of which were acquired abroad. Two of the cases originated in Mexico.

    Vampire bats are bloodsucking nocturnal mammals that are typically found in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. They usually feed on sleeping wildlife and livestock, but sometimes bite people, too.

    I didnt even think that was possible
    Australian Oceanic Multi Class Veteran of the Burning Crusade Wars!
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  2. #2
    I blame Twilight.

  3. #3
    The Lightbringer KingHorse's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Romire View Post
    A teenager from Mexico became the first person in the United States to die after being bitten by a vampire bat and infected with rabies, US health authorities have said.

    I didnt even think that was possible
    [/COLOR]
    Sensational title aside, it's a bat.

    Didn't think what was possible? Dieing of rabies? Rabies is quite nasty, you don't recover from it without shots. You get the shots, or it kills you, end of story.

  4. #4
    Maybe he will be turned into a Vampire?! Yuppyyyyyyyyy

  5. #5
    if the title said "vampire BAT bite" it would be much less spectacular...
    Ecce homo ergo elk

  6. #6
    Deleted
    That bat watches too much tv.. duh..

    Didn't expect someone to get killed by a bat though.. that was a new one.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Romire View Post
    I didnt even think that was possible
    You didn't think a person could die from rabies? OK

    What aspect of this were you hoping to discuss?

  8. #8
    All he needed to do was go to a doctor to get wound treatment and a vaccine. Also, people being bitten by rabid animals is nothing new.
    ~ I'm having trouble hearing you. Getting a lot of bullshit on this line. ~

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Activi-T View Post
    You didn't think a person could die from rabies? OK

    What aspect of this were you hoping to discuss?
    The OP probably meant to say they did not think it was likely for bats to attack humans; these cases are in fact quite rare I believe. No citations on that claim though, so feel free to prove otherwise

  10. #10
    High Overlord Surrender's Avatar
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    and so begins the zombie apocalypse

  11. #11
    So... some person decided not to get medical treatment from rabies which is commonly carried by bats? The fact that it's a vampire bat doesn't mean anything, people can die from rabies from any bat that carries it and is pissed off enough. Hell, he could have died the same way if he was bitten by a fruit bat.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by KingHorse View Post
    Sensational title aside, it's a bat.

    Didn't think what was possible? Dieing of rabies? Rabies is quite nasty, you don't recover from it without shots. You get the shots, or it kills you, end of story.
    Rabies is one of the most dangerous infections for humans, mortality rate of almost 100%.

  13. #13
    Stood in the Fire Mythodiir's Avatar
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    Well we shouldn't joke about someones death.

    off topic: Troll Druids kind of remind me of vampires because they turn into bats. I said its off topic but it was a bit on topic sorry.

  14. #14

  15. #15
    And now rabies kills? MADNESS! What has this world come down to? I would run to the mountains, but there could be bats with rabies there too! I am in shock and hopeless!

    What is happening next? People dying of cancer? People dying in aeroplane crashes? I cannot possibly imagine such things too!

  16. #16
    Bear Grylls would have ate that bat with snail tar-tar in an ox liver baste

  17. #17
    Deleted
    Did the bat fly away in the sun while becoming some sort of diamond shiny thing?


    If not, this thread fails to deliver.

  18. #18
    TL-DR

    In other news.... vampires are real!

  19. #19
    Myth: 4 people die of rabies every year.
    Fact: 3 people die of rabies every year.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Cracked View Post
    Rabies is one of the most dangerous infections for humans, mortality rate of almost 100%.
    Correction: mortality rate is 100% if untreated, and the only treatment is vaccination (fortunately, with rabies the vaccine actually works if injected AFTER you were bitten). Once you manifest symptoms, you are a goner. There was one or two cases of successful treatment of rabies which involved experimental methods like cooling the patient almost to the point of clinical death and all that stuff, but from what I know there are still many open questions about these cases.

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