An Australian woman fears she has a fatal virus after getting bitten on the top by a bat while on vacation.
“I didn’t wish to consider a bat had bitten me,” Sandi Galloway, told the Cairns Post of the attack, which occurred while she and her husband Gordon were sightseeing in Cairns, Queensland.
The couple was strolling back to their hotel at around 11 p.m. after having coffee with friends when abruptly Galloway felt something flapping near her
“I felt something flying over my head,” said the horrified Aussie, recounting the “Dracula”-evoking encounter.
As she is partially blind, Galloway flicked her hand up to forestall the unknown critter from alighting on her.
That’s when the unthinkable occurred: “Next thing, I felt this sting, like two pinpricks on my brow,” recalled the grandmother, who initially refused to simply accept that she’d been bitten by a bat despite her partner telling her that’s what had transpired.
She’d been specifically bitten by a flying fox, the biggest species of bats with a wingspan of as much as 5 feet — larger than a red-tailed hawk.
Nonetheless, Galloway said she convinced herself it “was probably a spider” though deep down she knew this wasn’t so.
She didn’t wish to face the truth that she’d been attacked by a flying rodent.
As Galloway didn’t display any symptoms except for fatigue and lack of appetite, the senior forgot concerning the ordeal until she returned home and had a chat along with her daughter.
“I didn’t wish to look silly going to a health care provider concerning the bite because I believed this doesn’t occur in real life,” rationalized the gran. “Then I told my daughter and he or she told me I could get rabies from it and will die.”
While Australian bats don’t carry rabies, they will transmit Lyssavirus, which attacks the nervous system and has had a 100% mortality rate in Australia.
For the reason that virus’ identification in 1996, there have been only three cases of infection in humans, all of whom had died “in consequence of ABLV infection after being bitten or scratched by bats,” Recent South Wales Health reported.
All three cases were in Queensland while one involved an eight-year-old boy.
Alarmed, Galloway booked an appointment along with her physician, whereupon she was eventually referred to an infectious disease expert, who needed to fly the vaccines in from Canberra.
Galloway reportedly received five injections on Wednesday and would require three more shots over the approaching three weeks.
“If I miss an injection, I even have to begin the entire process again,” lamented Galloway, who needed to postpone a cancer scan on account of the ordeal.
“I even have to reschedule my MRI because I had a brain tumor and I’m going for yearly checkups to be sure that it’s dormant, but I can’t do the MRI while taking this course of treatment,” she said.
In light of the frightening saga, Galloway vows never to return to Cairns unless its flying foxes are relocated and is looking on the local government to make this occur.
“It will be the perfect thing for Cairns to remove the bats from the town and relocate them to an area that’s not so crowded,” she declared.
Cairns Regional Council, which has been waging an ongoing battle with the flying fruit-eaters, says it’s currently mulling the suitable plan of action following the “rare yet alarming incident.”
“If council is made aware of a major flying-fox roost that will cause conflict between the people and flying foxes, signage shall be posted around the positioning to make the community aware,” they pledged.
Down Under isn’t the one place where these winged mammals are spreading disease.
A 2019 study found that bats and other wild animals are the leading explanation for rabies within the US ahead of dogs.
More infamously, bats have been blamed for originating the virus liable for the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, although this theory is disputed.
An Australian woman fears she has a fatal virus after getting bitten on the top by a bat while on vacation.
“I didn’t wish to consider a bat had bitten me,” Sandi Galloway, told the Cairns Post of the attack, which occurred while she and her husband Gordon were sightseeing in Cairns, Queensland.
The couple was strolling back to their hotel at around 11 p.m. after having coffee with friends when abruptly Galloway felt something flapping near her
“I felt something flying over my head,” said the horrified Aussie, recounting the “Dracula”-evoking encounter.
As she is partially blind, Galloway flicked her hand up to forestall the unknown critter from alighting on her.
That’s when the unthinkable occurred: “Next thing, I felt this sting, like two pinpricks on my brow,” recalled the grandmother, who initially refused to simply accept that she’d been bitten by a bat despite her partner telling her that’s what had transpired.
She’d been specifically bitten by a flying fox, the biggest species of bats with a wingspan of as much as 5 feet — larger than a red-tailed hawk.
Nonetheless, Galloway said she convinced herself it “was probably a spider” though deep down she knew this wasn’t so.
She didn’t wish to face the truth that she’d been attacked by a flying rodent.
As Galloway didn’t display any symptoms except for fatigue and lack of appetite, the senior forgot concerning the ordeal until she returned home and had a chat along with her daughter.
“I didn’t wish to look silly going to a health care provider concerning the bite because I believed this doesn’t occur in real life,” rationalized the gran. “Then I told my daughter and he or she told me I could get rabies from it and will die.”
While Australian bats don’t carry rabies, they will transmit Lyssavirus, which attacks the nervous system and has had a 100% mortality rate in Australia.
For the reason that virus’ identification in 1996, there have been only three cases of infection in humans, all of whom had died “in consequence of ABLV infection after being bitten or scratched by bats,” Recent South Wales Health reported.
All three cases were in Queensland while one involved an eight-year-old boy.
Alarmed, Galloway booked an appointment along with her physician, whereupon she was eventually referred to an infectious disease expert, who needed to fly the vaccines in from Canberra.
Galloway reportedly received five injections on Wednesday and would require three more shots over the approaching three weeks.
“If I miss an injection, I even have to begin the entire process again,” lamented Galloway, who needed to postpone a cancer scan on account of the ordeal.
“I even have to reschedule my MRI because I had a brain tumor and I’m going for yearly checkups to be sure that it’s dormant, but I can’t do the MRI while taking this course of treatment,” she said.
In light of the frightening saga, Galloway vows never to return to Cairns unless its flying foxes are relocated and is looking on the local government to make this occur.
“It will be the perfect thing for Cairns to remove the bats from the town and relocate them to an area that’s not so crowded,” she declared.
Cairns Regional Council, which has been waging an ongoing battle with the flying fruit-eaters, says it’s currently mulling the suitable plan of action following the “rare yet alarming incident.”
“If council is made aware of a major flying-fox roost that will cause conflict between the people and flying foxes, signage shall be posted around the positioning to make the community aware,” they pledged.
Down Under isn’t the one place where these winged mammals are spreading disease.
A 2019 study found that bats and other wild animals are the leading explanation for rabies within the US ahead of dogs.
More infamously, bats have been blamed for originating the virus liable for the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, although this theory is disputed.
