Vampire Bat Kills Louisiana Teen

Health officials said Friday that a Mexican teenager who died last year is the first known fatality in the U.S. of rabies contracted from vampire bats. Officials said they determined the 19-year-old migrant worker was bitten by the nocturnal mammal in Mexico and then traveled to Louisiana to work on a sugar-cane plantation. He did not seek treatment immediately but eventually was taken to the hospital with 101.1-degree fever and breathing problems. Within days of his arrival he became unresponsive, and the man’s family decided to take him off life support on Aug. 21 when tests showed there had been swelling of the brain. Vampire bats are typically found in Mexico and Brazil, but have lately been spotted in California.