Nervous wait for three men bitten by mad bat

THREE Queensland holidaymakers face an anguished wait for medical results after being bitten by a fruit bat sent mad by the deadly lyssavirus.

THREE Queensland holidaymakers face an anguished wait for medical results after being bitten by a fruit bat sent mad by the deadly lyssavirus.

The unlucky men were attacked separately by the same infected little red flying fox while sightseeing near Town of 1770 on the state's central coast on Tuesday.

The animal was caught and killed by one of them.

Laboratory tests yesterday confirmed that it had been carrying lyssavirus.

The only two known human cases of the Australian strain of the bat-borne disease resulted in the deaths of both victims in 1996 and 1998 respectively, also in Queensland.

Doctors say prompt treatment with the rabies vaccine, which the men

will now receive, has since proved totally effective.

The infection is closely related to rabies, and is fatal if untreated.

It was identified only after the death 13 years ago of Rockhampton woman Patricia Padget, 39, an animal lover who had become a volunteer carer for flying foxes.

None of the three men attacked on Tuesday knew the others before the infected bat swooped.

They had been walking on a boardwalk through the popular Joseph Banks Conservation Park near Town of 1770, 500km north of Brisbane.

The flying fox was seen to be "displaying unusual behaviour" in a tree about 10m off the path.

It launched itself at the men and, in repeated attacks, bit them variously on the head, ears and fingers.

The third man to be struck caught and killed the animal, before handing it over to concerned park rangers, who had it tested for lyssavirus.

The results came back yesterday, confirming fears that the bat's aggressive behaviour had been caused by the rabies-related disease.

Acting Queensland chief health officer Christine Selvey said there was still a risk the men could be infected.

"However, we have a very, very highly effective prevention regime and these people will be getting that as soon as can be arranged," Dr Selvey said.

They had returned to their homes in Ipswich, west of Brisbane; Hervey Bay, north of the capital; and Agnes Waters, in central Queensland.

Queensland Health logged 77 reports of people being bitten or scratched by flying foxes or bats last year, most of whom received successful prophylactic treatment for lyssavirus.

Of the 28 animals caught and tested, five had lyssavirus.

The Queensland government admits that up to one per cent of all bats, including flying foxes, could be infected.

Biosecurity Queensland principal veterinary scientist Janine Barrett said the behaviour of the infected bat on Tuesday was characteristic of lyssavirus. "It is highly unusual for bats to approach people," she said. "It is also unusual that it was out at the day time away from a roosting site."

While the rabies vaccine works against lyssavirus, it has no effect on another deadly bat-borne disease, Hendra virus, which has killed four of the seven people known to have contracted it in Queensland.

The second known victim of Australian bat lyssavirus died in 1998.

She had reportedly been bitten while protecting a child from an attacking bat at a party in Mackay, in Queensland's north.