The boy was 11 years old and sleeping in a family cabin in northern Ontario when something suddenly woke him: a bat was perched on his nose and mouth.
The boy swatted it away and, hearing the screams, his father came and caught it with a pot to release it outside into the night.
There were no bites or scratches on the boy’s body, so the family thought the scare had ended there and decided not to go to the hospital.
19 days passed.
That was when the right side of the boy’s face began to tingle and lose sensation. Then came swelling and a lack of appetite. At an initial consultation, they suspected Bell’s palsy due to herpes and gave him antivirals, but he did not improve.
The boy returned with difficulty swallowing, vomiting, and sores on his gums. They told them about the bat, but even so, they sent him home. The next morning, he could no longer speak properly. He had a fever, confusion, and hallucinations.
That night, he was admitted to intensive care and connected to a ventilator. “When we saw him in the PICU, we suspected it was rabies”, the doctors later wrote. The test confirmed it on the fourth day.
The boy died 17 days after being admitted. It was the first case of rabies contracted in Ontario since 1967.
The doctors who documented the case in 2026 said it plainly: an infected bat can appear completely normal. That is why any direct contact with one, whether or not there is a visible wound, must be evaluated immediately. Before symptoms appear, rabies can be prevented. Afterward, there is nothing left to do.