Local health officials have reported that vampire bats in the region of the northern Amazon region have bitten over 3,500 people. The bats have killed 20 people with a recent child that makes the 5th child to die from the rabies infected bats. The ages of the children that have died are between 5 and 10 years old. Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain and is fatal, especially in children.
Peru’s health ministry has sent emergency units to the area to vaccinate the people of the Awajun and Wampis tribes. So far they have immunized 900 people but some are hesitant to take the vaccine and have refused to receive it. Many fear that the death toll will rise because of the cost of obtaining the vaccine and the difficult means of getting it to the tribes.
Vampire bats usually feed on livestock and other mammals by night but since the rainforest is undergoing utter destruction of habitat, the people are more susceptible to being bit by these bats.
No comments:
Post a Comment