Four-Year-Old May Have Died From Bat Bite

A 4-year-old girl who appeared to be suffering from rabies, possibly contracted from a bat, died Wednesday night at a Seattle hospital.

The Centralia girl, whose name was not released, may have been exposed to a rabid bat at a relative’s home in Lewis County about a month ago, said Kathleen South, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

“They don’t know how it got in. They suspect it might have been through the chimney because it’s been cold and they’ve had their windows closed,” South said.

The girl was admitted to Centralia Providence Hospital on March 8 and transferred to Children’s Hospital in Seattle the following day. She died at Children’s Wednesday night, hospital spokesman Dean Forbes said.

An autopsy was pending.

Only 12 rabies deaths were reported in the United States between 1980 and 1989, South said. In seven of those cases, rabies was contracted outside the country.Family members found a live

bat in the bedroom of a relative’s house where the girl had been staying last month.

They killed it and buried it outside the house.

The girl didn’t show any bite marks, but rabies can also be transmitted if a rabid animal licks a person on an open wound or scratch.

The girl’s parents became concerned when she started acting strangely, South said.