Bat attack.There had been no reported cases of rabies rabies (rā`bēz, ră`–) or hydrophobia (hī'drəfō`bēə), acute viral infection of the central nervous system in dogs, foxes, raccoons, skunks, bats, and other animals, and in in Bowie County, Arkansas, since 2000, at least not until August 9th of this year. On that day, eight-year-old Kenneth Burns was playing with some neighbor children in his yard when a bat swooped down from a tree, landed on the boy's back, and scratched him on the neck. Kenneth grabbed the bat and threw it to the ground. Then, as reported by the August 14th Texarkana Gazette The Texarkana Gazette is a daily newspaper founded in 1875 and currently owned by WEHCO Media, Inc. It serves Texarkana and surrounding areas. It was acquired through the consolidation of several newspapers in 1933 through the efforts of the Iowa-born businessman , "the kids who were with Burns at the time shot the bat with a BB gun." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. William Wisdom, Kenneth's stepfather, this "turned out to be a good thing, because that's the reason we were able to send the bat off for testing." "We thought it was pretty serious," Wisdom told the Gazette, "because it happened at 4 in the afternoon" and bats are normally nocturnal nocturnal /noc·tur·nal/ (nok-tur´n'l) pertaining to, occurring at, or active at night. noc·tur·nal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or occurring in the night. 2. . Tests quickly confirmed that the bat was indeed rabid, enabling Kenneth to begin receiving a series of rabies shots without delay. |
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