Mass. man remains hospitalized in rabies case

BARNSTABLE, Mass. -- A Cape Cod official says a local man diagnosed with the first confirmed case of human rabies in Massachusetts since 1935 remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The Barnstable man is in his 60s, but his identity has not been released.

Barnstable Health Director Thomas McKean told the Cape Cod Times that the man was infected several months ago from a bat bite he received in his Barnstable home. He is hospitalized in Boston.

McKean says the man's wife was given the rabies vaccine last week as a precaution. He says she has been released from the hospital and staying with friends.

Tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the disease was transmitted by a common species of brown bat.

(Copyright (c) 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)