An 11-year-old boy in Ontario, Canada died of rabies after a bat landed on his face while he was sleeping or after waking up with a bat on his nose and mouth. Rabies is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms appear. The case was reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

According to express.co.uk, the boy had no visible bites or scratches from the bat. The Guardian reported that the boy was visiting an Ontario cottage when the bat landed on his face, that his family did not suspect rabies, and that doctors said the death might have been avoided with greater awareness of how the virus is transmitted.

The BBC reported that rabies infections are rare in Canada, with 28 human deaths due to rabies since 1924. The New York Post reported that post‑exposure prophylaxis given before symptoms develop is almost always successful.