Rabies back in UK as bat bites bat woman

A woman had to be given rabies vaccine after a bat which bit her in Lancashire tested positive for the potentially deadly disease. Health last night playing down the significance of the findofficials were and warned against alarm, as the woman had not shown any rabies symptoms.

The woman, a bat conservationist who had taken the bat into her care, was bitten in northern Lancashire on 11 September.

A consultant with the department of health, Mr Nick Gent, said the woman had been given the vaccine as a precaution and was treated in hospital for the bite, which was on her hand. She was now being treated as an outpatient.

"We have identified five other people who had any involvement in the handling of the bat and [we] are beginning post-exposure treatment," Mr Gent said. "[But] probably this is over the top."

Initial tests showed the bat carried a rabies virus common in bats across northern Europe. If further tests prove positive, it will be the first confirmed case of the European Bat Lyssavirus in Britain since 1996.