Boy, 11, dies after bat sleeps on his face and gives him rabies virus in Canada

An 11-year-old boy died a horrific death after waking to find a bat sitting on his nose and mouth while he slept.

The Canadian child had no visible bite marks after the terrifying encounter, prompting his family to believe he had escaped unharmed.

Instead, a silent infection would claim his life less than six weeks later.

The chilling case, detailed in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, happened during a family holiday at a cottage in northern Ontario in 2024.

Startled awake, the boy slapped the bat off his face.

His father caught the animal in a cooking pot before releasing it outside.

Because there were no obvious bite marks and the bat wasn’t behaving strangely, the family did not seek medical treatment.

But the deadly rabies virus, which infects only mammals, was already making its way to his brain.

Nineteen days later, the boy developed tingling and numbness on the right side of his face.

His face began to swell and he lost his appetite before doctors at an urgent care clinic diagnosed him with what they believed was Bell’s palsy linked to the herpes virus.

His condition continued to worsen.

Three days later he was taken to a hospital emergency department suffering painful swallowing and vomiting.

Doctors found ulcers in his mouth and problems affecting the right side of his face.

After the family mentioned the bat encounter, public health authorities were notified but the boy was discharged with another presumed herpes-related diagnosis.

By the following morning, he was back in hospital with facial weakness, slurred speech and reduced sensation.

While waiting for admission, he rapidly deteriorated, developing a fever, confusion, hallucinations and severe difficulty swallowing.

He was rushed to intensive care and placed on a ventilator.

“When we saw the patient in the PICU, we strongly suspected rabies,” the treating doctors wrote.

Tests confirmed the devastating diagnosis four days later, with authorities identifying a bat strain of the rabies virus.

Despite intensive treatment, the boy died on his 17th day in hospital.

Rabies is not found in Australia but local bats can carry the closely related Australian bat lyssavirus, which is just as deadly.

Health authorities urge anyone bitten or scratched by a bat to seek urgent medical treatment.