Rabid bat hiding in iPad leaps out and bites elderly man

'He probably knew my password,' jokes 86-year-old following deadly virus scare

An 86-year-old man has been treated for rabies after being bitten by a bat which leapt from between the back of his iPad and its case.

Roy Syvertson, from New Hampshire in the US, had been using the device for an hour when the creature popped out and took a nibble of his hand.

He said: "It felt like a little bee sting. And I looked, and the bat was coming out between the cover and the back of the pad.

"And then I got up, still squeezing it, which I'm sure he wasn't happy about, and I took him outside."

It was only the next morning, when he saw the bat had died where he had left it, that he became concerned the animal may have been infected with rabies, NBC reports.

He was told to go to hospital after calling the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game for advice.

Officials there later confirmed the bat was infected with the virus but doctors said that because Mr Syverston, who lives in the town of South Hampton, sought treatment early, he will be fine.

He said he remained unsure how the bat got behind his iPad but added: “My joke of, 'He probably knew my password' won't last forever. That won't be funny for a long time.”

And he said the incident had left him a little nervous.

"When I open up the Manchester Union Leader [newspaper] to read now I'm very careful when I open it up," he said. "When I open up the refrigerator, I want to make sure there's nothing in the refrigerator. Cereal box – what could be lurking in there? So maybe I am getting paranoid."

If left untreated, rabies will attack the central nervous system, leading to brain disease and death.

All mammals can carry the virus, but it is most common in dogs, bats, raccoons and foxes.