Bats are natural reservoirs for a wide range of microorganisms, including clinically-important zoonotic pathogens such as Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) that can infect humans and cause severe disease.

On 3rd July 2025, New South Wales (NSW) Health reported the tragic death of a man in his 50s from ABLV, marking the state’s first confirmed human case. First identified in 1996 in Australian fruit bats, ABLV is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA (-ssRNA) belonging to the Lyssavirus genus in the Rhabdoviridae family, which includes rabies virus. ABLV is endemic to Australia.

The virus is transmitted through bites or scratches from infected bats, or when their saliva comes into contact with broken skin or mucous membranes. Symptoms typically appear after an incubation period ranging from several weeks to months, and may include fever, headache, fatigue, and discomfort at the site of exposure. As the virus reaches the central nervous system, symptoms progress rapidly to confusion, paralysis, convulsions, and coma.

ABLV is extremely rare. Only four human cases (including this one) have been confirmed since the virus was identified. Despite its rarity, ABLV has a 100% case fatality rate once clinical symptoms begin. However, it is still preventable with early post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment, which includes rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin.

The public should not be overly concerned. However, people should strongly avoid handling bats and known areas where bats reside. If bitten or scratched, immediately wash the wound with soap and water, and seek urgent medical attention to receive early PEP treatment. This case is a sobering reminder that even rare viruses can have devastating outcomes if not promptly addressed.

The tragic death of a man in his 50s from northern New South Wales (NSW) on July 3, 2025, due to Australian Bat Lyssavirus (ABLV) underscores the rare yet lethal threat posed by zoonotic viruses endemic to Australia. ABLV, closely related to rabies virus within the Lyssavirus genus, is an enveloped, bullet-shaped negative-sense RNA virus encoding five core proteins critical to its neurotropic pathogenesis. It infects peripheral nerves through receptor-mediated endocytosis and progresses rapidly to the central nervous system, causing fatal acute encephalomyelitis. Once symptomatic, ABLV infection has a 100% fatality rate with no effective treatment available.

Only four human cases of ABLV have been recorded in Australia since its identification in 1996, all resulting from direct bat bites or scratches, and all fatal despite receiving standard rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). This recent NSW case, the first in the state, highlights significant lessons for public health: individuals must avoid direct contact with bats, seek immediate medical intervention, including thorough wound cleaning and prompt administration of rabies immunoglobulin and vaccines following any potential exposure.

Public health authorities must adopt a robust approach such as intensifying targeted education for high-risk groups like veterinarians and wildlife handlers, enhancing surveillance of bat populations, and investing in research for advanced vaccines and antiviral therapies. The incident highlights the critical need to respect ecological boundaries, promote community awareness, and ensure swift, evidence-based medical and public health responses.

The news of the death of a man in Northern NSW from Australian bat lyssavirus is tragic. Out of respect for the man involved and his family, I won’t comment on his specific circumstances.
 
Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is a virus that circulates naturally in Australian bats that is very closely related to rabies. Like humans and other animals, infected bats may become sick and die, however, some bats may appear unaffected. So, you can’t always tell just by looking at a bat whether it’s infected or not.
 
The virus is present in the saliva of some Australian bats, but at very low prevalence. The proportion of bats infected by the virus is normally very low – studies have looked for the virus in thousands of healthy bats and failed to find it.
 
To infect a human, the virus needs to pass from the bat’s saliva into a wound in the skin. For example, that can happen if an infected bat scratches or bites you, or if their saliva comes into contact with an existing break in your skin. You cannot contract the virus just by being near flying foxes.
 
We don’t know much about the dynamics of ABLV within bat populations, but the risk can be higher during periods when contact with people is increased. For example, during food shortages for flying foxes, when they are weak and starving and may be more likely to be searching for food in people’s backyards, or during climate-induced extreme heat events, when bats suffer heat stroke and die in large numbers.
 
So, it’s important to ensure that we allow space for bats to play their natural roles in ecosystems, without forcing them to come into contact with humans due to the destruction of their natural habitats. Bats play an important role in our ecosystems. Without the pollination services that flying foxes provide, our increasingly fragmented native forests would struggle to recover after fires.

Australian bat lyssavirus is very closely related to rabies and will cause death in susceptible people if they become infected and are not treated quickly.

Veterinarians and wildlife carers are two groups at higher risk, and it is recommended that those people are vaccinated against rabies to protect them against ABLV infection.

Unvaccinated people should avoid handling bats in the wild, and if they encounter an injured bat they should contact their local wildlife rescue group, rather than trying to handle the animal themselves.

ABLV is present in flying fox populations as well as in microbat populations.