Killed by rage in France after being bitten or scratched by a bat hiding in his barn: this is what emerged from the analyzes carried out today by the Institut Pasteur, according to which it is a first in mainland France. This 60-year-old died of encephalitis in August 2019.
A partnership between the Parisian Necker hospital and the Pasteur Institute, to identify undocumented causes of encephalitis, led to the genetic analysis of post-mortem samples. These analyzes showed that humans contracted a lyssavirus, the European Bat LyssaVirus type 1 (EBLV-1), which is present in bats. However, a very rare and exceptional case, experts assure.