Jo Jorgensen: Presidential candidate cancels rally appearance for rabies jab after being bitten by bat

Libertarian Party nominee to have injection as precaution

(Jo Jorgensen Campaign)

An election campaign, so the common refrain goes, is not for the faint hearted: it needs hard work, good luck and a thick skin.

In Jo Jorgensen’s case, it also requires a vaccine shot for rabies.

The Libertarian Party’s US presidential candidate had to cancel her appearance at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday morning so she could get a jab, after being bitten by a bat while out on the election trail.

“I will not be able to attend the campaign rally tomorrow morning,” Jorgensen tweeted Friday. “I will be getting a rabies vaccine as a precaution after having been bitten by a bat near the start of this campaign tour!”

She later posted a clip of the fictional character, Bat-Girl.

The professional psychologist and university lecturer is running for president with a slate of policies that would hugely reduce the role of both federal and state governments, while promoting a less restrained free market.

Key among them are prohibiting victims of gun violence from suing firearms manufacturers, blocking US military aid to foreign governments and the abolishment of the US Department of Education. She would reduce all non-violent criminals from American prisons.

In the 2016 election, her predecessor Gary Johnson won just four million votes across the country.

It is unclear where Jorgensen was bitten by the bat, but such rabies infected animals are present in every American state except Hawaii, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Left untreated the disease is 100 per cent fatal, but a series of injections administered soon after any bite will render the illness harmless.

We previously reported that Jo Jorgensen had cancelled her appearance at a rally in Louisiana. In fact, the rally was held in Mississippi. The article has been amended accordingly.