Rabies outbreak in Peru kills five children

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.livinginperu.com/news-128...-four-children

10 August, 2010 [ 09:22 ]
Rabies outbreak in northern Peru kills four children

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Rabies outbreak in Amazonas, Peru kills four childrenAn outbreak of rabies, allegedly spread by vampire bats, has killed four children in the Amazonas region of Peru,local press reported today.

The deaths happened last week in the district of Nieva, and the rabies diagnosis was confirmed by a forensics team sent to the region by the Ministry of Health...

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rabies outbreak in northern Peru kills four children

Rabid vampire bats kill four children, bite 500 people in Peru


August 13, 2010 2:01PM

AN outbreak of rabies spread by vampire bats in the Amazon community of Urakusa has killed at least four children.

More than 500 other people in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon region, close to the border with Ecuador - all of them Awajun Indians - have been bitten by the blood-sucking bats, the Latin American Herald Tribune said.


The health ministry has sent three medical teams into the remote area to vaccinate the indigenous communities.

Residents have been urged to sleep under mosquito netting and make sure to have regular vaccinations to fight the spread of the rabies transmitted by the bats.

Rabies outbreaks - particularly among bats - are a regular occurrence in Peru.

Vampire bats usually feed on animals but can sometimes attack humans for food, particularly in areas where their rainforest habitat has been destroyed.



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news...#ixzz0wTc6oA5X

snip from BBC:

Some experts have blamed the attacks on destruction of the rainforest, denying the bats of their natural habitat.

But others have suggested the vampire bat population may have grown rapidly, with the spread of cattle farming in the region providing an ample food supply.

Mass attacks on humans have occurred in other cattle regions in Latin America when the cattle are suddenly removed.

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Rabies outbreak in northern Peru kills four children

Joe Crowther - 13th August, 2010 Share| .Killer vampire bats attack 500 people in north east Peru

Killer vampire bats attacked 500 people in the village of Urakusa, Peru, and have infected at least four people with rabies.

..Medical supplies have been sent to the village, where the indigenous Aguajun tribe lives.


Health teams are currently looking for people within 6 miles of the initial outbreak who were attacked by bats within the last six months.


Jose Bustamente, a Health Ministry offical, confirmed that 97 per cent of the 508 people who were bitten by the vampire bates have begun receiving anti-rabies medication.

The remainder - which includes some who have rejected any treatment - are due to be vaccinated within the next few days.

Rabies causes an acute inflammation of the brain, or encephalitis, and is often spread via bites. The incubation period can last almost six months, but the virus is almost always fatal if left untreated.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/837986-killer-vampire-bats-attack-500-people-in-north-east-peru

[Shiloh]

Re: Rabies outbreak in Peru kills five children

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...23/3019496.htm

Rabid vampire bats kill five children

Posted 4 hours 39 minutes ago

At least 20 people have been killed this year in the region after they were bitten by rabid bats (AFP)

At least five native children living in Peru's northern Amazon jungle region have died after being bitten by rabid vampire bats, the health ministry said.

The victims, all between the ages of five and 10, were members of the Awajun and Wampis communities living province of Condorcanqui, some 1,000 kilometres north of Lima on the border with Ecuador...

...Dr Borjas says the two communities have reported that 3,500 people were bitten by vampire bats this year...