Vampire Bats Kill 13 People in
Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rabies-carrying vampire bats killed at least 13 people in
a remote Amazon town in Brazil's northern state of Para last
month, authorities said on Friday.
The state health care department said the thumb-sized creatures
had attacked about 300 people -- an unusually high number -- since
March 2 in the riverside Portel area, next to the world's biggest
estuarine archipelago of Marajo.
"All the deceased had a history of recent bat attacks and six
of them had confirmed human rabies from bat bites," a department
spokeswoman said.
Other bite victims received vaccines and other anti-rabies
treatment after March 19, when authorities became aware of the
problem.
The spokeswoman said government scientists suspect the attacks
are linked to a change in the bats' migration pattern caused by
deforestation.
"There is no guarantee that we won't have more cases," she
added.
The most recent death occurred last weekend.
Vampire bats normally feed on the blood of large birds and
sleeping cattle, lapping it from cuts they make with their teeth.
They often transmit rabies to cattle.
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