An 11-year-old boy sadly died after contracting rabies, despite experts saying he wasn’t bitten by the contaminated bat.The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) has since shared the boy’s case in its June 29 article, in a bid to help prevent similar incidents.It all began after the unnamed boy woke up to a bat lying on his nose and mouth inside of a cottage in northern Ontario, where he and his family were staying during the summer of 2024.Despite moving the bat from his face where CBC reported the father caught it in a pan and released it outside – little did anyone know, but the damage had been done.

The parents didn’t immediately take him to see a medical professional after the incident, because there was ‘no apparent bite or scratch marks’, but two weeks later, he passed from the encounter.It was 19 days from the bat contact, that the boy was seen at an emergency department, where he was experiencing symptoms like ‘vomiting, facial [tingling] and numbness.’Scarily, it was found that he had contracted rabies, even though there was no visible wound caused by the bat.However, once symptoms of rabies begin, it’s fatal, per the Mayo Clinic.This is why experts have come out to use the boy’s case as a warning to others.