Outbreak of aggressions and transmission of rabies in human beings by vampire bats in northeastern Brazil



Document title: Outbreak of aggressions and transmission of rabies in human beings by vampire bats in northeastern Brazil
Journal: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
Database: PERIÓDICA
System number: 000282252
ISSN: 0037-8682
Authors: 1

Institutions: 1Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Biologia, Salvador, Bahia. Brasil
Year:
Season: Sep-Oct
Volumen: 35
Number: 5
Pages: 453-460
Country: Brasil
Language: Inglés
Document type: Artículo
Approach: Descriptivo
English abstract Outbreaks of attacks upon human beings by vampire bats seems to be a common phenomenon in several regions of Latin America, but the occurrence of rabies infection among humans bled by vampires, is relatively low. In the present study, two outbreaks of human rabies transmitted by common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) are described from Bahia State, Northeasthern Brazil, in 1991 and 1992. The first was recorded in Aporá where 308 people were bled by vampire bats and three of these die from this zoonosis. The 2nd outbreak occurred in Conde where only five people were bled by vampires, and two deaths by rabies were registered. Our data suggest that rabies transmitted by bats basically depends on the presence of virus in the vampire bat population and not on the number of humans bled by them
Portuguese abstract Surtos de ataques de morcegos hematófagos em seres humanos parecem ser um fenômeno comum em muitas regiões da América Latina, porém, a ocorrência de raiva humana transmitida por morcegos é baixa. No presente estudo, são descritos dois surtos de raiva em seres humanos transmitida pelo vampiro comum (Desmodus rotundus) no Estado da Bahia, nordeste do Brasil, em 1991 e 1992. O primeiro foi registrado em Aporá onde 308 pessoas foram sangradas pelos morcegos e três delas morreram por causa dessa zoonose. O segundo surto ocorreu em Conde, onde apenas cinco pessoas haviam sido atacadas pelos morcegos e duas mortes por raiva foram registradas. Nossos dados sugerem que a raiva transmitida pelos morcegos depende basicamente da presença do vírus na população de morcegos hematófagos e não do número de pessoas agredidas pelos mesmos
Disciplines: Biología,
Medicina
Keyword: Parasitología,
Salud pública,
Rabia,
Brasil,
Murciélagos
Keyword: Biology,
Medicine,
Parasitology,
Public health,
Rabies,
Brazil,
Bats
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