http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/26/1085461799516.html

Up to 22 people may have died after being bitten by rabies-carrying vampire bats in Brazil's Amazon state of Para, scientists said today after discovering a second affected area.

Amiraldo Pinheiro, director of Para state's epidemic research centre, said 17 deaths from rabies had been confirmed in people known to have been bitten by bats. In five more cases the deceased showed typical rabies symptoms but were buried without an autopsy.

Fifteen of the confirmed deaths were in the remote riverside Portel area, next to the world's biggest estuarine archipelago of Marajo and two more, including the latest on May 19, in the Viseu region 450 km to the east.