Suspected Rabies in Man bitten by a BAT in Scotland

A conservation worker in Scotland was bitten by a rabies infected bat and he developed a paralytic form of rabies according to BBC lunchtime news. According to the news item his condition is likely to be fatal if rabies is confirmed.

Rabies is known to occur in bats. The news bulletin stated that SNH had pronounced that the public were not at any risk. Perhaps this is disingenuous of SNH in view of the fact that SNH have been instrumental in having conservation orders placed on bats, so that any person inhabiting a house that becomes infested by bats has a very real problem getting rid of the bats. It seems not unrealistic that in such a situation (and there have been several well documented instances of it) the human inhabitants could well be at risk of being bitten by a bat.

Perhaps SNH should rethink their excessively strict stance on giving preference to the welfare of bats over that of people. Furthermore, any pronouncements that they make for public consumption should be accurate and not aimed at defending their own, and not infrequently misguided, policies.

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19 November 2002

Suspected Rabies in Man bitten by a BAT in Scotland