Vampire Bats Kill 13 People in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rabies-carrying vampire bats killed at least 13 people in a remote Amazon town in Brazil's northern state of Para last month, authorities said on Friday.

The state health care department said the thumb-sized creatures had attacked about 300 people -- an unusually high number -- since March 2 in the riverside Portel area, next to the world's biggest estuarine archipelago of Marajo.

"All the deceased had a history of recent bat attacks and six of them had confirmed human rabies from bat bites," a department spokeswoman said.

Other bite victims received vaccines and other anti-rabies treatment after March 19, when authorities became aware of the problem.


The spokeswoman said government scientists suspect the attacks are linked to a change in the bats' migration pattern caused by deforestation.


"There is no guarantee that we won't have more cases," she added.

The most recent death occurred last weekend.

Vampire bats normally feed on the blood of large birds and sleeping cattle, lapping it from cuts they make with their teeth. They often transmit rabies to cattle.
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I heard about this also!

But what i heard was a little different??

I heard that they got attacked by the bats..but did not die..that it caused panic due to them thinking they had rabies...but it turned out the bats didnt??

Odd unless this is a coincidence..that both happened in the same area.

Anyhows...thats pretty scary stuff....

And on the animal channel, they try to perceive bats as nice creatures, what a bunch of fakes! I've seen bats attack cows, but never heard of them transmitting rabies to humans. I suppose it's a good thing I live nowhere near where bats are found.

Thats sad, so humans cause the bats to act that way.

bats are a big carrier of rabies. And usually they are docile little creatures. (Sort of like mice, with wings). This is a scary story. Makes me wonder if Mother Nature is indeed finally fighting back!

hrm doesnt sound right since bats think humans are yucky.
maybee if the were starveing but that would be unfortunate because if their food supply falls that low that could cause them to go extinct and bats are a key stone animal so if they go you can kiss just about everything bye bye
bats polinate a huge amount of plants much more then bee's could ever do and these plants they polinate are food plants vital to the survival of many animals