Thunder Bay health unit says rabies death in Canada 'big news' as it is 'extremely rare'

It's been nearly 25 years since officials from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit saw a confirmed, human rabies case in northwestern Ontario.However, that doesn't mean people shouldn't be extremely careful and continue to be vigilant if they get bitten or scratched byany animal.

"Human rabies is extremely rare in this area ... but animal rabies on the other handexists around Canada ... and if you look at Ontario as a whole, there's typically approximately 1500 confirmed animal rabies cases foundper year and they are mostly bats, skunks and foxes," manager of environmental health, LeeSiesewerdaexplained.

A Vancouver, B.C. man died over the weekend six weeks after being bitten by an infected bat on Vancouver island.

"Obviously it's big news when someone dies of rabies in Canada, because it's so rare," he said. "I don't even know when the last time it would have happened in Ontario."

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He said rabies in humans isfatal, which is why it is important for people to not only report a bite or scratch from a mammal, but also get your pets vaccinated.

"Once a person starts showing signs of rabies, it's almost always fatal, " he added. "There's regulation that requires all physicians - nurse practitioners, veterinarians, police officers - it imposes a legal obligation on them to report any bite or scratch from a mammal that has broken skin on a human, they have to report it to the local health unit."

Over 300 cases of possible rabies cases are investigated per year here in Thunder Bay, he said, and about a dozen of those people are vaccinated for rabies as a precaution.

"We haven't had a case of human rabies in a really long time, but we do know that it's out there in the wildlife. So it can be transferred of course, you can either interact with wildlife yourself, or your pet could potentially interact with wildlife and then get it,"Siesewerdasaid.

He said the last domestic animal that the health unittested positive for rabies was about 12 years ago.

"It is really uncommon," he said, adding that part of the reasonis due toanti-rabies programs as well as investigating all bites that are reported.

If the animal that has bitten the victimhas died or cannot be found, then a vaccination is given as a precaution.