By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

According to a retrospective analysis, the Institut Pasteur has reported the death of a 60-year-old Limoges man had died from European bat Lyssavirus type 1 in August 2019.

It is believed the victim was bitten or scratched by a bat nesting in the attic of his house.

In August 2019, he died encephalitis, the cause of which was not known.

A partnership established between the Necker hospital and the Pasteur Institute, aimed at identifying the causes of undocumented encephalitis, led to the genetic analysis of post-mortem samples. These analyzes at Necker Hospital in Paris showed that he had contracted a lyssavirus, European Bat Lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1).

“It’s been 35 years since such a death happened in the world. And in mainland France it’s really the first. In Russia, in 1985, only one other case of human encephalitis caused by this strain was confirmed, and two more cases of rabies were described in Finland in 1985 and in Scotland in 2002. They were caused by a different species of bat lysavirus, and killed two scientists specializing in bats research,” Laurent Dashe, deputy head of the Pasteur Institute’s national rabies reference center told AFP. He suggested that “the patient had contact with bats nesting in his attic.” Dashe said rabies has been officially eradicated in France since 2002, adding that “the last death related to non-flying animals in France occurred in 1998.”

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