Warning Issued: Man dies due to bat bite at Lake Chapala

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The death of a man who contracted rabies disease and was previously bitten by a bat was reported in Chapala, Jalisco.

Due to rabies after a bat bite, it was the cause of death of a man who handled the animal and contracted the disease that had no record since 2009, the events in Chapala, Jalisco.

“The bat was lying on the ground and he wanted to grab it and the bat took a bite and bit him, it is important not to have interaction with wildlife, he is a 52-year-old person who was bitten in the municipality of Chapala and who was a neighbor from El Salto, Jalisco and loses his life as a result of rabies,” said Fernando Petersen, Secretary of Health.

The 52-year-old man contracted rabies after being bitten, the authorities ask the population to vaccinate themselves and their pets as well as avoid handling wild animals, which are also susceptible to contracting and spreading rabies.

“It was a long time since there was a case of rabies in Jalisco or Mexico, we make a call first that they vaccinate their dogs and cats, second, that they do not have contact with wild animals because we have to remember that animals do you manage, in this case, a bat, they can have diseases that spread to humans,” Petersen said.

Experts recommend that before the bite of a wild, domestic, or even farm animal, rabies treatment should be applied, this can be the difference between life and death.

Rabies is an acute infectious disease caused by the Lyssavirus, it causes inflammation of the brain and has a high lethality. It is considered a zoonosis because it is transmitted to humans through infected animals, domestic animals such as dogs and cats, cattle or wild animals such as bats, foxes, or skunks, through bites, scratches, or the contact of the animal’s saliva with mucous membranes or the skin with a wound.

State data indicates that in Jalisco the last case of human rabies due to a dog bite occurred in 1995 and from 1996 to 2021 there have been seven cases associated with wild species, the last case was in 2009, due to cattle.

Learn more…

  • In Chapala, 60% of the registered households have pets, 69% are dogs and 31% are cats. The average number of pets is 2.79 per household.
  • There are 17,140 doses available for canine and feline rabies vaccination in Chapala.
  • The population is recommended to refrain from touching wild animals, especially bats.
  • In case of detecting a wild animal, it should be reported to 33-3030-500 extensions 35067 and 35065.

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