{"slug": "woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens", "title": "Woman bitten by bat on holiday ‘saved from rabies’ after using Google Lens", "summary": "Laura Horton, 53, was bitten by a bat on holiday in Lesbos, Greece, and credited Google Lens with saving her life after the AI tool identified the animal as a pipistrelle bat and warned her to seek rabies treatment. She received a course of rabies vaccines and avoided the potentially fatal infection.", "body_md": "A woman was bitten by a bat on holiday and may have had her life saved after Google Lens told her to seek rabies treatment.\n\nLaura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday trip to Lesbos, [Greece](https://metro.co.uk/tag/greece/), in May 2026 when she found a bat drowning in the swimming pool at the apartment complex where she was visiting a friend.\n\nShe grabbed the animal from the water and let it sit in her hand for 10 minutes to dry off – unaware it had bitten her before flying away.\n\nLaura wanted to know what type of bat she had rescued, so she uploaded a photo of it sitting in the palm of her hand to Google Lens.\n\nAs well as identifying it as a pipistrelle bat, the AI programme alerted her to seek medical treatment immediately due to the risk of contracting rabies from handling the animal.\n\n## Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's ** News Updates** newsletter or get\n\n**alerts the moment it happens.**\n\n[Breaking News](https://metro.co.uk/newsletters/breaking-news?ito=news-article&?signup_source=news-article-link)She also claimed Google Lens warned her that she would be unable to feel a bat bite as their teeth are too small, and on closer inspection, Laura noticed two tiny pin-prick bite marks.\n\nRabies is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from an infected animal’s bite or scratch, and it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.\n\nLaura went to the Hospital of Mytilene, Lesbos, the following day, where she started a course of preventative rabies post-exposure vaccines.\n\nShe had a total of three jabs in Greece, followed by her fourth and final jab when she returned to the UK on June 1 at the [School](https://metro.co.uk/tag/school/) of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool.\n\nLaura, a personal trainer from Mossley Hill, Liverpool, said: ‘I had no idea you could catch rabies from a bat.\n\n‘I grabbed it from the water on instinct because it was drowning – I had no idea of the risks. It sat on my hand for about 10 minutes, drying off.\n\n‘We all thought it looked cute, so I took a photo of it.’\n\nAfter uploading the image to Google Lens to determine the species of bat, Laura was met with a series of questions from the AI tool.\n\nShe said: ‘I thought it was all a bit dramatic. But when I took a photo of my hand, I saw two tiny bite marks.’\n\nShe rang her insurance company the following day, May 8, which confirmed she should seek medical attention.\n\nShe needed to undergo a course of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) – a life-saving treatment given immediately after a potential bite or scratch from a rabid animal.\n\nAfter going to seek treatment, she said a language barrier nearly prevented her from getting the correct treatment.\n\n‘At first, they tried to send me away with antibiotics,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure they understood what happened.\n\n‘I was sent to a travel clinic, and a nurse was furious I hadn’t been given the first dose yet. I went back to the hospital and found the infectious diseases department – they were brilliant.’\n\nShe returned on May 11 and May 15 for two more jabs while in Greece and had a fourth when she returned to the UK on June 1.\n\nShe said: ‘My GP didn’t actually know what to do. Luckily, we have the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, and I was able to get my fourth injection arranged with them very easily.\n\n‘I later found out there is a dedicated rabies hotline in the UK that would have delivered it to my doctor’s surgery.\n\n‘It was lucky Google Lens told me to go to the hospital – who knows what might have happened. I read the tragic case about the boy in [Canada](https://metro.co.uk/tag/canada/) who died after a bat landed on his face.\n\n‘A lot of people aren’t aware of the dangers of these wild animals and the risks. Hopefully I can help raise awareness.’\n\n**Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.**\n\n**For more stories like this, **[ check our news page](https://metro.co.uk/news/).\n\nMORE: [The unspoiled Greek island with ’23 untouched beaches’ and no crowds](https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/09/unspoiled-greek-island-23-untouched-beaches-no-crowds-29093956/?ico=more_text_links)\n\nMORE: [Fighter jet goes up in flames after crash landing at airport](https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/09/fighter-jet-goes-flames-crash-landing-airport-29096141/?ico=more_text_links)\n\nMORE: [These are Europe’s most beautiful islands for food, weather and scenery](https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/06/europes-beautiful-islands-food-weather-scenery-29060621/?ico=more_text_links)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens", "canonical_source": "https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/14/holidaymaker-needed-rabies-treatment-bitten-bat-rescued-pool-29132962/", "published_at": "2026-07-14 11:37:46+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-14 11:49:04.926341+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-tools"], "entities": ["Google Lens", "Laura Horton", "Lesbos", "Greece", "Hospital of Mytilene", "School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/woman-bitten-by-bat-on-holiday-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens.jsonld"}}