BAT CAUSES RARE DEATH
Slight contact led to rabies
Nick Major was not doing anything out of the ordinary on that midMay day when he had a brief but fatal encounter with a bat infected with rabies.
A family member said Major, 21, had been driving on Vancouver Island and pulled over on the side of the road when a bat flew into him.
Health authorities confirmed the patient was outdoors and in broad daylight when the nocturnal creature “struck” his hand before flying away.
“He wasn’t doing anything risky that would put him in a position where he would encounter bats,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s chief provincial health officer. “This is an incredibly unfortunate, strange circumstance for this young man and his family.”
Major had no visible puncture wounds or scratch marks, something that’s not unusual because bat scratches can be microscopic, said Henry. Major developed symptoms of rabies six weeks after exposure.
According to an online fundraiser set up to help Major and his family, he was taken to the intensive care unit at St. Paul’s Hospital, where doctors treated him for swelling on his spinal cord and brain. He died Saturday.
Major was the first confirmed death from rabies contracted in B.C. since 2003, when a 52-yearold man died from rabies after developing arm weakness that progressed into paralysis.
Another B.C. fatality, a 22-yearold student in 1985, was bitten by a bat while working at a forestry camp in Alberta.
Tributes have poured in online for Major, who was described as a much-loved taekwondo instructor at Cascade Martial Arts in Parksville. Many described him as a hard worker and stellar teacher who had a tremendous impact on his community, including his students.
“Nick was an absolutely wonderful young man and we always admired how amazing he was with all the children he taught — he was truly talented,” said one commenter. “His patience and kindness were appreciated and will be remembered.”
“We all will miss him and the sudden loss of such an incredible role model will be felt deeply by this entire community, young and old,” said another.
Health Minister Adrian Dix extended his condolences to Major’s family, calling the young man’s death “an extraordinary tragedy.”
Deaths from rabies infection are extremely rare. Major’s death is the second case in B.C. and the 25th in Canada in the last century.
Rabies is a virus that attacks the nervous system. Often introduced through a bite or scratch, it stays in the infected area, multiplying stealthily before travelling into the nerves, spinal cord and brain.
Once symptoms appear, it is usually too late for effective treatment.
About 200 people in B.C. receive vaccines against rabies annually because they may have been exposed to bats or other wild animals, said Dr. Eleni Galanis, physician epidemiologist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
“It’s an excellent and effective vaccine,” she said. “But if you don’t get the vaccine, and once symptoms start, nearly everyone dies from the infection and there is no treatment.”
Worldwide, only five or six people have survived a rabies infection.
Danielle Dagenais, Metro Vancouver/Squamish co-ordinator for the B.C. Community Bat Program, said most human contact with bats occurs from mid-July to September when new pups are learning to fly. She said it is also unusual for bats to be flying during the day and that could be a sign it is infected with rabies. Anyone who spots bats in the daytime should take extra precautions.
B.C. is home to 17 species of bats, with 10 species found in Metro Vancouver. The risk from rabies and bats is everywhere in B.C., noted Henry. But it’s very small. About 13 per cent of bats tested in the province tested positive for rabies.