 A type of bat can feed on mammals' blood |
Bites from rabid bats have killed 11 people in northern Brazil in the last two weeks, local authorities say. Health officials have vaccinated local people and set up treatment posts around the remote Amazonian town of Augusto Correa in Para state.
Nine of the victims were children, and two people are seriously ill in hospital with rabies.
A factor behind the outbreak is the destruction of the rainforest, the Brazilian environment agency says.
Deforestation leads to a greater concentration of bats in areas populated by humans.
Brain disease
Laboratory tests on bats captured in the region have shown that some are carrying the virus.
Rabies is a very serious brain disease, which can be prevented by vaccination.
Humans generally catch the virus by being bitten by an infected animal.
Twenty-one people died from rabies last year in Para, Efe news agency reports.
The toll was higher than the number of rabies deaths registered across Brazil between 2002 and 2003, the agency says.
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