Australian bat lyssavirus and rabies
Health alert
Status: Active
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Issued by: Chief Health Officer
Issued to: Health professionals
Both rabies (which is present in many countries throughout the world but not present in Australia) and Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) are spread from infected animals to people through bites or scratches, or by being exposed to infected animals’ saliva through the eyes, nose, mouth or broken skin.
Australian bat lyssavirus spreads from bats to humans, causing serious illness very similar to rabies. It is assumed that any bat in Australia could potentially carry ABLV.
Current situation
Timor-Leste is now considered a high-risk country for rabies. Travellers to Timor-Leste should be assessed for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) rabies vaccination and provided with rabies prevention advice.
People while in or returning from Timor-Leste (which includes Oecusse) with dog, monkey or bat scratches or any animal bites should be should be considered for post-exposure rabies vaccine and human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG), to prevent potential rabies infection. Rabies is a fatal disease.
Alerts to health professionals
- Health alert: rabies PDF (601.3 KB) (10 April 2024)
Notifiable disease
ABLV and rabies are notifiable diseases.
Vaccine
Read about immunisations on the Northern Territory Government website.
Information for health professionals
| Type | Resource | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Document | Australian bat lyssavirus and rabies fact sheet PDF (144.4 KB) | NT Health |
| Document | Lyssavirus post-exposure prophylaxis form PDF (826.7 KB) | NT Health |
| Document | Rabies and other lyssavirus – CDNA National Guidelines for Public Health Units | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care |
| Webpage | Australian immunisation handbook | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care |
| Tropical Health Orientation Manual for health practitioners in Northern Australia | Australian bat lyssavirus and rabies | Centre for Remote Health |
Information for the public
| Type | Resource | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Document | Australian bat lyssavirus information for veterinarians PDF (3.1 MB) | Northern Territory Government |
| Webpage | Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) and rabies | Northern Territory Government |
| Webpage | Flying fox - Information for veterinarians and wild life carers | Northern Territory Government |
| Webpage | Report injured wildlife | Northern Territory Government |
| Webpage | Lyssavirus (ABLV) | Health direct |
| Webpage | Timor-Leste travel advice and safety | Smartraveller |
Contact
Contact the Public Health Unit’s Centre for Disease Control.
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