The kind of story we don't see every day (thank goodness):
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — State health officials say a person from southern Indiana's Clark County has died of rabies.
The state Department of Health announced the death Tuesday, saying it was the first human death from rabies in Indiana since 2006 and only the second since 1959.
Apparently, the infection came from a bat. Usually, when we hear about rabies, we think "dog," but that's not usually the case in this country:
Rabies is primarily a disease of animals. Infected dogs account for less than 5% of all rabies cases. However in other countries where canine rabies has not been controlled, it accounts for 90% or more of cases of rabies. In North America, especially on the east coast, an increasing number of infected raccoons are being seen. In the Midwest, skunks and bats more commonly carry rabies.
Wild animals generally account for about 93% of rabies, raccoons about 40% of that, skunks 30%, and foxes 6%.
Though it's rare here, rabies is still the 19th leading caue of mortality in the world, according to the article, with about 55,000 deaths a year.
