The transmission of paralytic rabies in Trinidad by the vampire bat

ABSTRACT

In the year 1925 paralytic rabies appeared among certain animals in the island of Trinidad, and in 1929 affected human beings. Human beings bitten by vampire bats developed sensory symptoms at the site bitten, followed by paralysis and death. Vampire bats by histological examination, animal inoculation, cross-immunity, and serum neutralization tests have been found infected with the virus of rabies. The conclusion is drawn that the vampire bat (Desmond rotundus murinus Wagner, 1840) is the transmitting agent of the disease in man and animals. (Summary).