A man died of rabies after waking up to a bat in his room. It is the first human case of the virus in Illinois in almost 70 years

(CNN) – A man in northeastern Illinois died of rabies about a month after apparently being infected by a bat he found in his bedroom, representing the first human case of the virus in the state since 1954, health officials said Tuesday.

The man, who was 80 years old, woke up last month to find a bat on his neck at his Lake County, Illinois, home. After the bat tested positive for rabies, the man refused post-exposure treatment, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said in a press release.

About a month after the exposure, the man began to suffer from neck pain, headache, numbness in the fingers, difficulty controlling his arms and difficulty speaking, health authorities said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the man’s diagnosis Tuesday after conducting laboratory tests.

Wildlife experts found a colony of bats in the man’s home, IDPH said.

“Rabies has the highest death rate of all diseases,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in the news release. “However, there is a life-saving treatment for people who seek care quickly after being exposed to a rabies animal.”

The rabies virus is transmitted through direct contact with an infected animal, including through saliva or tissue in the brain and nervous system, according to the CDC. The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system and causes a brain disease that can lead to death without treatment, the CDC explained.

Human rabies infections are rare in the United States, with one to three cases reported each year, IDPH said. Still, an estimated 60,000 Americans receive the post-exposure series of vaccines each year.

Illinois public health officials caution that while people generally realize that they have been bitten by a bat, “they have very small teeth and the bite mark may not be easy to see.”

The state health department advises that people in contact with a bat should not release it until it can be tested for rabies. People are also encouraged to contact their local health officials, who can determine if they have been exposed and what course of action is needed.

Most Rabies Cases in America Come from Bats, CDC Says

A 2019 CDC report found that bats are the cause of seven out of 10 rabies cases in the United States.

Researchers examined rabies trends in the United States over 80 years, from 1938 to 2018. They found that most infections came from dog bites until 1960, when wild species, specifically bats, became the main source of human infection. This followed national efforts in the 1950s to require pet vaccinations and implement leash control laws, according to the report.

The number of rabies deaths in the United States ranged from 30 to 50 per year in the 1940s, but has dropped to one to three deaths per year. That’s the result of routine pet vaccinations and the availability of post-exposure treatment.

In June, the CDC suspended the importation of dogs from more than 100 countries considered to be at high risk for rabies. The measure affects dog rescue missions, dog breeder imports and people who bring pets, the CDC explained.

The decision was made based on a combination of factors, the CDC said, including the coronavirus pandemic, a lack of facilities to safely quarantine dogs and three recent incidents of infected dogs being brought into the country.

Jennifer Henderson, Maggie Fox and Jennifer Feldman of CNN.