Doctor warns all bats could carry 'devastating and fatal' disease

All bats should be considered deadly until proven otherwise because even the smallest scratch or bite is capable of killing.

That's the warning from the doctor who helped diagnose the first case of deadly lyssavirus in an Australian child.

The rabies-like disease is extremely rare but has killed every infected person, paediatrician Dr Joshua Francis says.

Such was the case last year when an eight-year-old Queensland boy died two months after being bitten.

By the time the boy arrived at hospital with rabies-like symptoms, it was too late for Dr Francis and his team to save him.

He was the third Australian to die from the disease.

"It was a devastating case," Dr Francis told AAP.

In latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, released on Monday, he renews calls for the public to avoid complacency.

"It's a very rare disease, but devastating and fatal," he writes.

He urges anybody bitten or scratched by a bat to seek medical attention immediately.

Infection can be managed with rabies medication if caught before symptoms emerge.