AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-1998
QLD: Second bat disease death
BRISBANE, Dec 14 AAP - A woman has died in a Mackay hospital from the fatal lyssavirus
disease, two years after she was bitten by an infected bat.
The woman, aged in her 30s, died yesterday after being in hospital for about two weeks,
said a spokesman for Mackay Base Hospital. No other details were released.
She is the second Queenslander to fall victim to the bat-borne lyssavirus.
A Rockhampton wildlife carer who died in 1996 was Australias first recorded fatality from
the disease, which can be transmitted to humans when scratched or bitten by infected flying
foxes.
The Mackay woman was bitten by a flying fox at a party more than two years ago when the
animal landed on her back.
A girl was also scratched at the same party and is now on preventative injections, but has
not been admitted to hospital.
The Mackay woman had been on life support in hospital with swelling of the brain.
Lyssavirus can also be transmitted if the animals saliva comes into contact with the moist
membranes of the eyes, nose or mouth or with a fresh break in the skin.
AAP geb/sd/bjm/br
KEYWORD: LYSSAVIRUS DEATH
1998 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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