For the first time in more than five decades, an Iowan has been infected with rabies — and has died. 20-year-old Ronald Buckley of Cedar Rapids died Saturday at a city hospital after being admitted September 17th. Tom Hart is environmental supervisor of the Linn County Health Department. Hart says a bat is suspected of infecting Buckley.Hart says it’s still not certain how this victim was infected with rabies, but bat exposure is the most common kind, and this type of rabies is common in bats.Hart says health officials are trying to track down other people who may have been exposed to the killer disease. He says they’re checking all families and friends to see if they’ve been infected.The last reported human rabies infection in Iowa was in 1951.
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