Latest news with #EBLV-2
Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Bat with extremely rare rabies-causing virus found on UK island
The injured bat rescued from a back garden in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight was found to have an extremely rare rabies-like virus, according to the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs An extremely rare rabies-like virus has been detected in the UK after an injured bat was rescued from a back garden. The resident wore gloves when they picked up the creature and put it in a shoebox overnight at their home in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight. The following day, volunteers from the Isle of Wight Bat Hospital took it away. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) says the bat was found to have been infected with a virus that caused rabies. An investigation was launched by the Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) which found no scratches or bites to humans or animals. In the UK, there are two types of viruses that cause rabies in bats. They are European Bat Lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1) and European Bat Lyssavirus-2 (EBLV-2). This bat was found to have the former. The UK is considered a rabies free country, and Defra stressed this discovery does not change its classification. The Bat Conservation Trust said that while the bat-borne EBLVs do carry the virus, it's not the version usually transmitted through dogs - which is responsible for most of the world's cases. Alex Morss, from the trust, said: "Rabies-related viruses have only ever been recorded in less than 0.3% of all bats tested since 1986 (59 bats of 19,000 tested), and in only two of the 18 bat species present in the UK, the serotine bat and the Daubenton's bat." She added: "There have only been two recorded cases of rabies viruses from an infected wild British animal in a human in Britain since records began - One case was in 1902, the other case was in 2002." EBLV-1 was first detected in Dorset in Serotine bats in 2018, the APHA said, with 34 cases reported in the UK as of May 2024. Alex told the BBC that anyone suspected to have been bitten, licked, or scratched by a bat should seek medical advice and reach out to the National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228. The NHS states that people exposed to the virus can be cured if they receive a vaccination soon after infection. "There is no risk to human health if you do not handle British bats, even if they are roosting in buildings you use," Alex said. "No action should be taken to disturb or harm any wild bats or their roosts. Bats are non-aggressive, shy mammals and will avoid contact with humans." Bats should only be handled by trained and licensed professionals unless it's a bat in distress that needs rescuing. Should you find an injured bat, it's essential to use thick gloves and a face mask or covering. All 18 species of bats in Britain, and the roosts they live in, are protected by law.
Scottish Sun
21 hours ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Extremely rare virus that causes RABIES found in bat in UK garden after mum died from disease caught petting dog abroad
See the rabies hot spots in our map below VIRAL THREAT Extremely rare virus that causes RABIES found in bat in UK garden after mum died from disease caught petting dog abroad THE virus that causes rabies has been found in a bat in a back garden in Britain. The rodent was found in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight and tested tested positive for European Bat Lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1), an extremely rare virus known to cause the deadly disease in humans. Advertisement 7 The virus that causes rabies was found in the bat Credit: Alamy 7 The animal was collected by volunteers the following day Credit: Alamy 7 Yvonne Ford, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, died after falling ill with rabies Credit: Facebook It comes just days after a grandmother tragically died from rabies following a scratch from a stray puppy while on holiday in Morocco. Meanwhile, the resident who discovered the injured bat used gloves to place it in a shoe box and kept it safely overnight before calling the Isle of Wight Bat Hospital. The animal was collected by volunteers the following day, and Government officials later confirmed it had tested positive for EBLV-1. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the bat was humanely put down to prevent any risk of transmission. Advertisement The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigated the incident but found no evidence of bites or scratches to humans or other animals. Although EBLV-1 can cause rabies, it is different from the rabies virus most commonly associated with dogs, which causes the majority of cases worldwide. Both EBLV-1 and a similar strain, EBLV-2, are extremely rare and have only been found in a small number of bats in the UK. Experts say the discovery does not change the UK's rabies-free health status, and other mammals are not considered to be at risk. Advertisement It comes after Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, died after unknowingly contracting rabies while abroad earlier this month. She was scratched by a puppy during a trip to Morocco in February but did not believe it was serious at the time. Video of mum dancing on holiday before she died Two weeks before her death, she fell ill with a headache which quickly progressed. Her daughter, Robyn Thomson, revealed that Yvonne lost her ability to walk, talk, sleep, and swallow before she died. Advertisement Speaking out to raise awareness, Robyn said: 'Our family is still processing this unimaginable loss, but we are choosing to speak up in the hope of preventing this from happening to others.' She added: 'She was scratched very slightly by a puppy in Morocco in February. "At the time, she did not think any harm would come of it and didn't think much of it.' The Bat Conservation Trust explained that the two known strains of lyssavirus found in British bats have only been recorded in 59 of more than 19,000 bats tested since 1986. Advertisement Only two species—the serotine and Daubenton's bat—have tested positive. EBLV-1 has been detected in serotine bats since 2018, with the first case confirmed in Dorset. Rabies is passed through bites and scratches, or if infected saliva enters a person's eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound. The NHS says rabies symptoms include Numbness or tingling where you were bitten or scratched Seeing things that are not there (hallucinations) Feeling very anxious or energetic Difficulty swallowing or breathing Being unable to move (paralysis) Symptoms may take weeks or months to appear, but once they do, the disease is almost always fatal. Advertisement Signs include confusion, hallucinations, paralysis, difficulty swallowing, breathing problems, and numbness around the affected area. Alex Morss, from the Bat Conservation Trust, urged anyone who has been licked, scratched, or bitten by a bat to call the National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228 and seek immediate medical advice. He said: 'There is no risk to human health if you do not handle British bats, even if they are roosting in buildings you use. "No action should be taken to disturb or harm any wild bats or their roosts.' Advertisement Bats in the UK are protected by law and should only be handled by trained and licensed individuals. If a bat is injured or in need of rescue, gloves and a face covering should always be worn. The NHS offers a rabies vaccine, which is 100 per cent effective if given promptly after exposure. In some cases, a treatment called immunoglobulin may be administered directly into the wound. Advertisement Dr Katherine Russell from the UK Health Security Agency said: 'If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal in a country where rabies is found, wash the wound with soap and water immediately and seek medical help without delay.' She added: 'There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case. "Human cases of rabies are extremely rare in the UK, and worldwide there are no documented instances of direct human-to-human transmission.' Yvonne's family have since shared tributes and videos of her dancing with her grandchildren just weeks before her sudden decline. Advertisement They hope her story will raise awareness and remind holidaymakers to take animal bites or scratches seriously, especially in countries where rabies is a known threat. What rabies does to the body and how it's treated The infection is common worldwide but is predominantly found in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Some of the animals that are most likely to spread the disease are dogs, bats, foxes, skunks and raccoons. Symptoms After a bite or other rabies exposure, the virus can take weeks or months to start causing symptoms. This timeframe is what doctors call the incubation period in which the virus is travelling through the body and to the brain. Some of the most common symptoms of rabies include: Fever Headache Excess salivation Muscle spasms paralysis mental confusion The World Health Organization describes two main manifestations of the disease: furious rabies and paralytic rabies. People or animals with furious rabies may appear agitated, become aggressive, and drool excessively, while other symptoms include hyperactivity, fear of water, and even fear of fresh air. The symptoms of paralytic rabies, on the other hand, are more understated—typically causing gradual paralysis as a patient remains calm and lucid. Treatment If you've been bitten or scratched by an animal in an area with a risk of rabies you should immediately clean the wound with running water and soap for several minutes. After this, you must disinfect the wound with an alcohol- or iodine-based disinfectant and apply a simple dressing. After the wound is addressed, you should see a doctor as soon as possible and they will determine if you need a rabies vaccination or not. Post-exposure treatment is nearly 100 per cent effective if it's started before any symptoms of rabies appear. Some cases will require immunoglobulin, which is administered into and around the wound. This provides short-term protection if there is a significant chance of infection in the wound. Treatment should ideally begin within a few hours of being bitten, but can be delayed up to 24 hours if needed 7 Rabies is passed through bites and scratches, or if infected saliva enters a person's eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound Credit: Facebook 7 Yvonne's family have since shared tributes and videos of her dancing with her grandchildren just weeks before her sudden decline Credit: Facebook 7 Two weeks before her death, she fell ill with a headache which quickly progressed Credit: Facebook Advertisement
The Irish Sun
21 hours ago
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Extremely rare virus that causes RABIES found in bat in UK garden after mum died from disease caught petting dog abroad
THE virus that causes rabies has been found in a bat in a back garden in Britain. The rodent was found in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight and tested tested positive for European Bat Lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1), an extremely rare virus known to cause the deadly disease in humans. 7 The virus that causes rabies was found in the bat Credit: Alamy 7 The animal was collected by volunteers the following day Credit: Alamy 7 Yvonne Ford, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, died after falling ill with rabies Credit: Facebook It comes just days after a grandmother Meanwhile, the resident who discovered the injured bat used gloves to place it in a shoe box and kept it safely overnight before calling the The animal was collected by volunteers the following day, and Government officials later confirmed it had tested positive for EBLV-1. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the bat was humanely put down to prevent any risk of transmission. Read more on Health The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigated the incident but found no evidence of bites or scratches to humans or other animals. Although EBLV-1 can cause rabies, it is different from the rabies virus most commonly associated with dogs, which causes the majority of cases worldwide. Both EBLV-1 and a similar strain, EBLV-2, are extremely rare and have only been found in a small number of bats in the UK. Experts say the discovery does not change the UK's rabies-free health status, and other mammals are not considered to be at risk. Most read in Health It comes after Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, died after unknowingly contracting rabies while abroad earlier this month. She was scratched by a puppy during a trip to Morocco in February but did not believe it was serious at the time. Video of mum dancing on holiday before she died Two weeks before her death, she fell ill with a headache which quickly progressed. Her daughter, Robyn Thomson, revealed that Yvonne lost her ability to walk, talk, sleep, and swallow before she died. Speaking out to raise awareness, Robyn said: 'Our family is still processing this unimaginable loss, but we are choosing to speak up in the hope of preventing this from happening to others.' She added: 'She was scratched very slightly by a puppy in Morocco in February. "At the time, she did not think any harm would come of it and didn't think much of it.' The Bat Conservation Trust explained that the two known strains of lyssavirus found in British bats have only been recorded in 59 of more than 19,000 bats tested since 1986. Only two species—the serotine and Daubenton's bat—have tested positive. EBLV-1 has been detected in serotine bats since 2018, with the first case confirmed in Dorset. Rabies is passed through bites and scratches, or if infected saliva enters a person's eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound. The NHS says rabies symptoms include Numbness or tingling where you were bitten or scratched Seeing things that are not there (hallucinations) Feeling very anxious or energetic Difficulty swallowing or breathing Being unable to move (paralysis) Symptoms may take weeks or months to appear, but once they do, the disease is almost always fatal. Signs include confusion, hallucinations, paralysis, difficulty swallowing, breathing problems, and numbness around the affected area. Alex Morss, from the Bat Conservation Trust, urged anyone who has been licked, scratched, or bitten by a bat to call the National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228 and seek immediate medical advice. He said: 'There is no risk to human health if you do not handle British bats, even if they are roosting in buildings you use. "No action should be taken to disturb or harm any wild bats or their roosts.' Bats in the UK are protected by law and should only be handled by trained and licensed individuals. If a bat is injured or in need of rescue, gloves and a face covering should always be worn. The NHS offers a rabies vaccine, which is 100 per cent effective if given promptly after exposure. In some cases, a treatment called immunoglobulin may be administered directly into the wound. Dr Katherine Russell from the UK Health Security Agency said: 'If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal in a country where rabies is found, wash the wound with soap and water immediately and seek medical help without delay.' She added: 'There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case. "Human cases of rabies are extremely rare in the UK, and worldwide there are no documented instances of direct human-to-human transmission.' Yvonne's family have since shared tributes and videos of her dancing with her grandchildren just weeks before her sudden decline. They hope her story will raise awareness and remind holidaymakers to take animal bites or scratches seriously, especially in countries where rabies is a known threat. What rabies does to the body and how it's treated The infection is common worldwide but is predominantly found in Some of the animals that are most likely to spread the disease are dogs, bats, foxes, skunks and raccoons. Symptoms After a bite or other rabies exposure, the virus can take weeks or months to start causing symptoms. This timeframe is what doctors call the incubation period in which the virus is travelling through the body and to the brain. Some of the most common symptoms of rabies include: Fever Headache Excess salivation Muscle spasms paralysis mental confusion The World Health Organization People or animals with furious rabies may appear agitated, become aggressive, and drool excessively, while other symptoms include hyperactivity, fear of water, and even fear of fresh air. The symptoms of paralytic rabies, on the other hand, are more understated—typically causing gradual paralysis as a patient remains calm and lucid. Treatment If you've been bitten or scratched by an animal in an area with a risk of rabies you should immediately clean the wound with running water and soap for several minutes. After this, you must disinfect the wound with an alcohol- or iodine-based disinfectant and apply a simple dressing. After the wound is addressed, you should see a doctor as soon as possible and they will determine if you need a rabies vaccination or not. Post-exposure treatment is nearly 100 per cent effective if it's started before any symptoms of rabies appear. Some cases will require immunoglobulin, which is administered into and around the wound. This provides short-term protection if there is a significant chance of infection in the wound. Treatment should ideally begin within a few hours of being bitten, but can be delayed up to 24 hours if needed 7 Rabies is passed through bites and scratches, or if infected saliva enters a person's eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound Credit: Facebook 7 Yvonne's family have since shared tributes and videos of her dancing with her grandchildren just weeks before her sudden decline Credit: Facebook 7 Two weeks before her death, she fell ill with a headache which quickly progressed Credit: Facebook 7 Yvonne Fords family hope her story will raise awareness and remind holidaymakers to take animal bites or scratches seriously, especially in countries where rabies is a known threat Credit: Facebook
Daily Record
7 days ago
- Health
- Daily Record
How common is rabies? After UK tourist dies following contact with dog
Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal Holidaymakers will be counting down the days until they jet off on their summer holiday - but heading abroad can also bring a lot of dangers, especially when it comes to your health. Certain viruses or diseases are more prevalent in some countries than in others due to factors like lifestyle and environmental conditions. Rabies, for example, has been wiped out in the UK, but can still rear its head elsewhere. This week, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that a British woman has died in Yorkshire from rabies after contact with a stray dog while on holiday in Morocco. But just how common is rabies? And what risk does it pose to people living in the UK? What is rabies and can it be treated? Rabies is a deadly viral disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS) - the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by the rabies virus and almost always leads to death once symptoms appear, but it is 100 per cent preventable with prompt medical treatment after exposure. Rabies is most often transmitted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, as the virus is present in saliva. It can also spread if infected saliva gets into open wounds or mucous membranes (like eyes or mouth). The virus is most often carried by dogs, bats, raccoons, foxes, skunks and cats. Rabies has been eradicated from the United Kingdom in terrestrial (land) animals since the early 20th century, with the last case of classical rabies in an animal reported in 1902. It was officially declared eradicated in pets in 1922. Human rabies cases are extremely rare in the UK with just six cases reported since 2000, according to the UK Government. Five were imported cases with animal exposures abroad and one was an infection with EBLV-2 in a bat handler in Scotland which occurred in 2002. The man sadly died in what was the first case in Britain for 100 years. The last rabid terrestrial animal in the UK was a puppy imported from Sri Lanka in 2008. And the most recent case of rabies in the UK was in 2018 when an individual was bitten by a cat in Morocco. Apart from the one case who acquired it from bats in the UK, all human rabies cases in the UK between 2000 and 2018 were associated with exposure to infected animals abroad. Crucially, none of the cases were known to have received pre-or-post-exposure rabies treatment. If you're wondering about human-to-human transmission, well, there has never been a laboratory-documented case other than very few resulting from organ or tissue transplant. The same goes for spreading rabies by kissing or intimate contact. However, rabies virus can be found in saliva and other body fluids after rabies symptoms start developing as well as clinical disease, so there is a small theoretical risk of infection at this stage of disease, say the experts. Therefore, as a precaution, those who have come into contact with a rabies patient may be offered immunisation. Symptoms of Rabies According to the NHS, symptoms usually appear two to eight weeks after exposure but can vary. Early symptoms (similar to flu): Fever Headache Fatigue Pain or tingling at the bite site Advanced symptoms: Anxiety, confusion Hallucinations Hydrophobia (fear of water due to throat spasms) Aerophobia (fear of air due to pain from air movement) Seizures Paralysis Coma Death, once symptoms start (usually within days) Treatment and Prevention Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal. But it can be treated prior to this in the following ways: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP): given immediately after exposure, it can prevent the virus from progressing A series of rabies vaccine shots Pre-exposure vaccine is available for people at higher risk (e.g. vets, travellers to endemic areas) What to do if you're bitten or scratched Wash the wound immediately with soap and water for at least 15 minutes Seek medical care immediately Follow through with post-exposure treatment as advised Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
