TIGERTON, WISCONSIN — A 6-year-old girl, Cecilia Kale, was bitten by a bat on her left thigh while playing on a tree outside her home in Tigerton, Wisconsin. The incident led to Cecilia receiving rabies post-exposure prophylaxis within 48 hours.

Cecilia's brothers, Nicklas Kale, 11, and Camden Kale, 16, intervened by removing the bat from her. They then killed the bat using a homemade blade. Tests later confirmed that the bat was rabid.

Elizabeth Kale, Cecilia's mother, described the incident. "And here comes Camden and he's like, 'No!' and he's got the pole and he just knocks [the bat] off [Cece] and then Nicklas grabs it, and he just starts killing the thing," she said. Elizabeth Kale also stated that Nick made the homemade sword, noting, "Nick made the homemade sword. We love 'Braveheart.'"

Elizabeth Kale indicated that the family generally opposes mandated immunizations but consented to the rabies treatment for Cecilia. She also stated, "We want to live out here to give our kids land and homeschool and to raise them as we would have in 1850 and to give them that type of lifestyle."

Rabies is nearly 100% fatal if left untreated but is almost certainly nonfatal with a series of five shots. Nick Mau, the health officer with the Shawano-Menominee County Health Department, commented on the case.

"This one's getting all the [attention] because a young individual was exposed to a bat that did indeed test positive, so it's not uncommon," Mau said. He added, "What our job is to do is to communicate risk, what's recommended by the medical community, what's recommended by the state health department and the CDC."