Three patients died in the Cayenne hospital, at least one of whom was infected with rabies, the first documented case in 16 years, the prefecture and the ARS of Guyana indicated this Thursday, March 28. The three patients had been admitted to the intensive care unit between February 17 and March 1, “from the Eau Claire gold panning site”, in southern Guyana.
The press release does not specify the dates of the deaths and tests are still being conducted to determine the causes of death of the other two people.
A public health mission will be carried out
So far, the only documented case of rabies in Guyana dates back to 2008, recalled Anne Lavergne, head of the virus/host interactions laboratory at the Pasteur Institute.
“The main reservoir of rabies in South America is the vampire bats Desmodus rotundus,” he explained.
This virus is lethal to all species, including humans, except these bats.
It is not yet known how the victim became contaminated, Anne Lavergne said, adding that it is possible that “an entire colony of bats could have been infected in a short period of time, leading to a higher likelihood of encounters” with a localized human population. .
Health authorities are searching for people who may have been in contact with the patient and a public health mission will travel to the illegal site in Eau Claire to evaluate the situation, according to the prefecture and ARS.
Source: BFM TV
