Identification of focus areas for Australian Bat Lyssavirus potential exposure prevention in the Metro North Hospital and Health Service region.

Australian Bat Lyssavirus (ABLV) is a fatal rabies-like disease spread to humans from bats. All people who report bat bites or scratches in Queensland are considered potentially exposed to ABLV and are followed up and treated to prevent ABLV. Preventing members of the public intentionally interacting with bats will reduce the number of potential exposures to ABLV. In order to target public health messaging, this study examines the epidemiology of potential ABLV exposures in Metro North Hospital and Health Service (HHS), a region of Queensland that encompasses metro and rural areas in the south-east of the state. People who intentionally handled bats during the study period were more likely to be adult (93%), male (60%), scratched (51%) by a megabat (72%) and been potentially exposed while rescuing the bat when it was trapped or injured (72%). The number of potential exposures reported in Queensland has increased since 2013; the same year, a Queensland child died of ABLV. Seasonally, exposures are more common during bat breeding and nursing periods when bats are more active (summer to autumn). Although there were more notifications in a band stretching north from the inner city to northern metro suburbs, notification rates were higher in large rural statistical areas in the north of the HHS. These data will be used to develop geographically targeted ABLV prevention messaging for the general public.