Overview

• The patient was admitted on September 18 with symptoms including hydrophobia and convulsions and died on September 25.
• The diagnosis was confirmed by the National Reference Centre for rabies at the Institut Pasteur, with the case publicly announced on September 30.
• Public‑health authorities have opened an epidemiological investigation to identify the exposure source, and local reports about the victim's identity remain unconfirmed.
• The hospital says rabies is not transmitted between humans and mainly spreads via bites or scratches from domestic or wild carnivores; caregivers received precautionary vaccination.
• Rabies is rare in France but still causes more than 50,000 deaths worldwide each year.