摘要：The recent association of a fatal human case of encephalitis with a newly identified lyssavirus apparentlyacquired from a native Australian bat has highlighted the possibility that previous human infections havepassed unrecognised. Infected bats have been identified on the Queensland Gold Coast where extensive closecontact between bats and humans has occurred for many years. In an attempt to identify previously unrecog-nised cases of fatal lyssavirus encephalitis, the medical records of the Gold Coast Hospital over a 16 year periodfrom 1980 to 1996 were reviewed. Of 20 cases coded as 'encephalitis' or 'meningitis' where death occurred,none was consistent with an encephalitis due to an unidentified virus
