man dies of rabies, first documented case in 16 years

A public health mission will visit the Eau Claire gold mining site in southern Guyana following the death of a man suffering from rabies, local authorities said Thursday, March 28.

Three patients died at a Cayenne hospital, at least one of whom was infected with rabies, the first documented case in 16 years, the prefecture and Guyana ARS reported this Thursday, March 28. Three patients were admitted to the intensive care unit between February 17 and March 1 “from the Eau Claire gold mine site” in southern Guyana.

The press release did not specify dates of death, and tests are ongoing to determine the cause of death of two more people.

A public health mission will be conducted

So far, the only recorded case of rabies in Guyana dates back to 2008, recalls Anne Lavergne, head of the virus-host interaction laboratory at the Pasteur Institute.

“The main reservoir of rabies in South America is the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus,” she explained.

This virus is fatal to all species, including humans, with the exception of these bats.

How the victim was infected is not yet known, Anne Lavergne said, adding that it is possible that “an entire colony of bats was infected in a short period of time, leading to a higher likelihood of encounters” with a localized human population.

According to the prefecture and ARS, health authorities are tracking people who may have come into contact with the patient, and a public health mission will travel to the Eau Claire area, which was illegal, to assess the situation.