Rabies claims man's life

The BCCDC's Dr. Danuta Skowronski says the man would not have been saved, even if they discovered the reason for his illness sooner.

"Rabies is uniformly fatal once symptoms have started," she says. "And that's why we've started to emphasize so heavily the importance of prevention.

Skowronski says people should avoid contact with bats. She says if someone does encounter a bat, they should go to a hospital emergency for a rabies shot.

B.C.'s one other rabies-related death was a 22-year-old college student who was bitten by a bat in in Alberta in 1985.