A young boy has died of rabies after being bitten by a bat while a little girl is fighting for life, according to officials.
The Health Department in Oaxaca, Mexico, said the seven-year-old youngster was bitten by a wild animal, with reports suggesting it was a bat.
The girl, eight, is from the same remote mountain town and still in a critical condition, sedated and on a ventilator.
Dr. Concepcion Rocio Arias Cruz, the director of a hospital in the state capital, said the young girl is unlikely to survive.
She added the children were bitten by the bat earlier this month but no one arranged for them to be given treatment.
She said: “They were bitten on Dec. 1, they delayed going to a clinic for treatment for 20 days.”
Authorities in Oaxaca have travelled to the children's remote indigenous town of Palo de Lima to vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies.
Rabies is a very serious condition which infects your brain and nerves.
It is usually spread to humans via the bite or scratch of an infected animal, most commonly dogs .
The condition is found across the world, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.
In the UK, it is typically found in a small number of wild bats .
Animals such as cats, bats, raccoons, foxes, jackals, monkeys and mongooses can also carry the disease.
Transmission of rabies can also occur if saliva of infected animals comes into direct contact with human mucus, fresh skin wounds or with your eyes.
Earlier this year a man died of the condition a month after being bitten by a bat while he slept in his bedroom.
The man, in his 80s, woke up and found a bat on his neck in mid-August in Illinois, US.
He was advised he needed to start post-exposure rabies treatment, but he declined, health officials said.
However, one month later the man began experiencing symptoms such as neck pain, headache, difficulty controlling his arms, finger numbness and difficulty speaking.
The bat was captured and tested positive for rabies, while the man died a short time later.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week confirmed the man's diagnosis after testing at its lab.
DPH Director Dr Ngozi Ezike said: "Rabies has the highest mortality rate of any disease.
"However, there is life-saving treatment for individuals who quickly seek care after being exposed to an animal with rabies.
"If you think you may have been exposed to rabies, immediately seek medical attention and follow the recommendations of health care providers and public health officials."
