Bat in flight -

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This is a first in mainland France.

A man died of rabies in Limoges, probably after being bitten or scratched by a bat, we learned from the Institut Pasteur on Wednesday.

The sixty-year-old had succumbed to encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain of unexplained origin, in August 2019. A partnership between the Necker Hospital and the Pasteur Institute, aimed at identifying the causes of undocumented encephalitis, led to the genetic analysis of post-mortem samples.

These analyzes at Necker Hospital in Paris showed that he had contracted a lyssavirus, European Bat LyssaVirus type 1 (EBLV-1), sheltered by bats.

"This shows that there are cases of rabies that we can miss"

“It is thanks to this retrospective diagnosis that this case was brought to light.

This shows that there are cases of rabies that can be missed, ”Laurent Dacheux, deputy head of the national reference center for rabies at the Institut Pasteur, told AFP.

"The trace of this virus was identified at that time, in November 2020. In the midst of the coronavirus period, and this discovery went unnoticed", continues Laurent Dacheux.

This exceptional case was finally mentioned in a popular science article on the mesvaccins.net site and highlighted by the regional daily

Le Populaire du Center

.

In contact with bats that nested in his attic

Concerning the European bat, “it has been 35 years since a death of this type has occurred in the world.

And in mainland France, this is indeed a first, ”assures Laurent Dacheux.

“We had an identical death in 1985 in Russia.

Two other deaths concerning bats (Editor's note: scientists studying bats) in which another species of bat lyssavirus is involved, EBLV-2, were recorded in 1985 in Finland and another in Scotland in 2002 " , he added, estimating that "the patient who died in Limoges has apparently been in contact with bats which nested in his attic". 

In France, rabies has been officially eradicated since 2001, underlines the researcher.

"The last case listed in France and concerning non-flying animals dates back to 1998".

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