Lyssavirus revisited

[den]

Today I took another bat, a broadnose, to the zoo for testing. I rescued him yesterday but he died overnight. Several things about j-bat worried me:

1- He was hugely agressive. I mean, wild animals are pretty cranky at the best of times, but this one was insane. He bit right through my canvas gloves, not a bad effort for an animal the size of a mouse. I felt his teeth on my skin but he didn't draw blood. He did this many times.

2- He had difficulty moving, like his arms and legs were stiff

3- He had an obsessive/compulsive need to groom and had scratched out his fur in great patches.

4- Tremors.

I was very worriedA quick Google search (australian bat lyssavirus symptoms) confirmed it in my mind. Tim the Zoovet said he'd send the body off to the Contageous Diseases Laboratory for testing. ABL isn't as bad as rabies but both people who were infected in the early 1990s died, so from a sample of 2 it is 100% fatal.

He also said that CDL is 90% certain that the bat that bit me two weeks ago is free of ABL. One more test to go and I can do a big woo hoo.

Comments

[ironbark.livejournal.com]

There are many behavioual disorders that can be caused by parasites. Lyme disease manifests itself as abnormal aggression in humans and is caused by a syphlis like bacteria in ticks. Another parasite of rodents makes them fearless and they expose themselves to predators more easily ... ..... anyhow I didn't want to cause you anymore anxiety ....

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[makovette.livejournal.com]

Hmms,

It would seem a higher quality pair of gloves is in order, bats getting their chompers through your existing set seems to be a re-occuring problem...?

CYa!
Mako

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I'm thinking butchers' metal mesh gloves.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I'm thinkin' TONGS. Long ones. Eep!

[http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/]

Would those hurt a bat's teeth, though? I was thinking welder's gloves, which are tough, thick leather.

I agree, though...I admire Den's dedication to helping bats, but I really don't think it's worth him dying for.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

Poor bat! But more importantly, poor you! I'm glad the earlier bat seemed free of it, but I don't blame you for bein' worried--I'd be completely neurotic by now.

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

eep! Would falconers' or welders' gloves be too bulky for handling the little nippers?

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Den,

Not to be morbid, but I'm always a disciple of
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Is there any vaccination or course of anti-biotics
that you might consider as a precautionary measure
until the results are in?

I know you said you're current on rabies vaccine,
but what sort of status is there on the ABL?

Any idea on what the incubation time is on this
stuff? Is it a bacteria or a virus?

(Duh, Scott, why don't you try google?)
[Huh? Oh yeah!]

Okay, it's a virus with symptoms showing up after 29
days. Lots of time to get the test results back.
Okay, are there any vaccines against this stuff? Even
if this turns negative (and I hope it will!) I wonder if
you might look into a vaccine in case of future exposure?
After all, thicker gloves are always a good idea, but
better safer than sorry.

Scott

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

European Bat Lyssavirus(Type 1), EBL(2), American bat lyssavirus(3), Australian bat lyssavirus(4) and rabies are all in the same family i.e. "lyssavirus." Rabies just happens to be the most virulent. The standard rabies innoculation is protection against all of them, which is what I've had plus a booster 18 months ago.

I was tested last November and had a titre level of 2.6. WHO says you need a level of 0.05 to be considered immune. So I have that in spades.

I'll be going to the medical centre tomorrow to see the doctor from Lebenon there. He's the only one who doesn't give me a funny look when I talk about rabies. The others refuse to believe that I even need testing. "There is no rabies in Australia!" In fact, the duty doctor at the base hospital said "Oh, I don't know. Keep the animal for 10 days and if it dies we'll worry about it then."

ABL Type 4 has a really long incubation period in humans so symptoms don't show for nearly 12 months. The last person to die didn't show symptoms for 2 years, and she didn't have the pre- or post-exposure shots.

So I'm only a bit worried. I'll get another titre level check tomorrow and those results will be back by the time the bat tests come back from the Commonwealth Diseases Laboratory.

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Well, that's encouraging. :)

Though, the doctors don't sound too up on things.
I assume that's because not too many folks come in
direct contact with bats as you do.

The usual advice from Doctors when considering rare
diseases is:
"If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras".

Make sure they know you work with zebr... bats. :)

Scott (A Zebra-Bat? Darn! NOW I think of it. :) Kellogg

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

A striped horse with leathery wings would fit nicely into Monday's strip 8)

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

I just wish I'd thought of it before!

Scott