Australian Survivor star and fitness influencer Jaden Laing has revealed he needed a rabies shot after a bat sank its teeth into his arm during a visit to an animal rescue venue in Bali.
The Queensland strongman said he had been holding a snake before accepting an offer to handle a bat, which bit him almost immediately.
He recounted the encounter during a phone call to a health line.
‘I held the bat, and the bat just bit me straight away.’
‘Oh my God,’ the operator replied.
After establishing that the bite was on his forearm, the operator asked whether the bat was well.
‘It was a nice bat,’ Laing replied.
He then recalled raising concerns about rabies with a woman at the venue, who assured him the animal was not infected.
Australian Survivor star and fitness influencer Jaden Laing has revealed he needed a rabies shot after a bat sank its teeth into his arm during a visit to an animal rescue venue in Bali
The Australian Survivor star said the bat bit him almost immediately after it was handed to him
Bat bites can transmit rabies or related viruses through the animal’s saliva, and a bat appearing healthy or behaving calmly does not rule out infection
‘Well, I said to the lady … “I got rabies now.” And the lady goes, ‘No. It doesn’t have rabies,’ he said.
The health line operator warned him about the seriousness of a potential infection.
‘The thing with rabies, once the symptoms started, it’s unfortunately fatal, which is why we take it quite seriously,’ the operator told him.
Bat bites can transmit rabies or related viruses through the animal’s saliva, and a bat appearing healthy or behaving calmly does not rule out infection.
Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms develop, but prompt treatment after a potential exposure can prevent the disease.
The vaccine is given to prevent infection after a possible exposure – receiving it does not mean Laing has rabies or the bat that bit him is infected.
