Doctors said the child had no visible bite or scratch after waking with a bat on his face.
ONTARIO, Canada — An 11-year-old boy died of rabies after waking up with a bat on his nose and mouth during a family trip to a northern Ontario cottage, according to a newly published medical report.
The case was detailed in the Canadian Medical Association Journal after doctors reviewed the child’s illness, treatment and death. The boy was not publicly identified. His family told doctors the bat encounter happened 19 days before his first symptoms appeared. Because no bite or scratch was seen, the family did not seek medical care at the time.
The report said the boy woke during the trip and found the bat on his face. He swatted it away, and his father caught the animal in a cooking pot before releasing it outside. The family did not think the bat had acted strangely, and the child appeared to have no visible wound.
Nearly three weeks later, the boy developed facial numbness, tingling and swelling. He was first treated for a possible facial nerve condition. His symptoms then worsened, with vomiting, trouble swallowing, fever, confusion and other signs of serious neurological illness. He was eventually hospitalized and tested positive for rabies.
Doctors said the infection had already reached an advanced stage by the time rabies was confirmed. The child was treated in intensive care, but his condition continued to decline. He lost brain stem function and died 17 days after symptoms began, according to medical reporting on the case.
The death was the first locally acquired human rabies case reported in Ontario since 1967. Human rabies remains rare in Canada, but health officials say bats are a major source of risk because their bites and scratches can be tiny and difficult to see.
The medical report said the case shows how hard bat-related rabies exposure can be to recognize. Doctors said any direct contact between a person and a bat can require urgent review, even when there is no visible injury. Rabies is almost always fatal after symptoms begin, but early post-exposure treatment can prevent the disease.
The case remains a public health warning for doctors and families after the child’s death was reviewed in the medical journal. No further identifying information about the boy or his family had been released as of Friday.
Author note: Last updated July 3, 2026.