AN eight-year-old Cairns boy has become the country's third known victim of Australian bat lyssavirus after losing his fight against the deadly disease.
It was revealed last week the comatose boy was being kept alive on a ventilator in a Brisbane hospital more than three weeks after developing encephalitis, swelling of the brain, as a result of the rare rabies-like illness.
Queensland Health has confirmed he died yesterday.
The boy is believed to have been bitten or scratched by a bat while holidaying in the Whitsundays two months ago, but only started to show symptoms of the illness a month ago.
The virus can have an incubation period of two years or more.
Queensland bat handler Patricia Padget, 39, became the world's first victim of lyssavirus in 1996 while the second known victim, Monique Todhunter, died in 1998.
Premier Campbell Newman expressed his sympathy for the boy’s family, described his death as “absolutely devastating”.
“I just hope that medical science can find some solution to this incredibly rare but obviously very devastating disease so this isn’t going to happen in future,” Mr Newman said.
“My heart goes out to his poor family.”
He urged people to heed the advice of Queensland Health and avoid touching bats at all times.
“People just shouldn’t be touching bats unless they are a trained wildlife expert,” he said.
“There’s a very small chance, a one in 10,000 chance of copping this virus but all information I have says people just shouldn’t be touching bats."
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