Figure 1.
Map of the 2011 outbreak area in the district of Imaza, province of Bagua, department of Amazonas, Peru.
The red shaded area highlights the epicenter of the outbreak in the village of Yupicusa. All marked villages have reported recent cases of rabies in humans and/or livestock.
Figure 2.
Map of Latin America showing the range of D. rotundus [20] and reported rabies outbreaks attributed to vampire bat bites [2], [21]–[23]. Aside from a single 1929 outbreak in Trinidad, dates span from 1975 to 2011, with most outbreaks occurring since 1990. Note the high density of outbreaks in northern Peru, department of Amazonas. Sporadic human cases and widespread livestock cases are also reported throughout the range of D. rotundus.
Figure 3.
(A) Acute care in a local health outpost of a young girl bitten by a bat while she slept. (B) Close-up of bite on girl's head showing typical concave lesion. (C) The common vampire bat, D. rotundus. The central incisors are used to remove a small patch of skin from prey, and anticoagulants in the saliva prevent clotting while the bat laps the blood meal. This feeding behavior allows for transmission of rabies to prey via saliva. (D) Typical bite on the ankle of a cow.