A Scottish naturalist has become the first person in more than a century to die of rabies contracted within Great Britain.
Donald McRae, a volunteer with the Scottish Natural Heritage bat research project, died Nov 24. He had been infected with European bat lyssavirus (EBL), a strain found throughout Europe.
McRae, who had a licence to work with the animals, had been doing the work for 15 years. Another British wildlife volunteer is receiving treatment after a bat she was caring for in northwest England bit her; it also tested positive for EBL.
Britain's Bat Conservation Trust is working with British government agencies to test bats for the virus, and to date has turned up 2 cases in 3000 tests. In the wake of McRae's death, the Scottish Natural Heritage is revoking most of the 101 bat-handling licences it has issued.
Canada's last case of human rabies, which proved fatal, occurred in 2000 and involved a 9-year-old boy bitten by a bat at a Quebec cottage. It was the first case reported since 1985 and the country's 22nd rabies-related death since 1925. — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK
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Photo by: Art Explosion