Rabies and Bat Lyssavirus
Rabies and Bat Lyssavirus Infection
Lyssaviruses are a group of viruses that includes rabies and bat lyssavirus. Diagnosis can be difficult, and confirmation requires laboratory tests for the presence of the virus in skin, blood, spinal fluid, and nervous tissue or other tissue. There is no cure once the disease begins.
Notification
Rabies and Bat Lyssavirus Infection is a hospital and laboratory notifiable disease in NSW and must be reported by phone to the local Public Health Unit (PHU) as soon as possible after diagnosis.
A doctor treating a person who is bitten or scratched by a bat, or a mammal in a rabies endemic country, needs to contact the local Public Health Unit (PHU) for advice about post-exposure treatment for lyssavirus.