Yvonne Ford was scratched by a dog in Morocco but was only diagnosed with rabies months later
An inquest into the death of a woman has heard how it was too late to save her life when she was diagnosed with rabies.
On Tuesday (March 3), Sheffield Coroner’s Court heard how Yvonne Ford suffered a variety of strange symptoms which stumped medics for weeks.
The 59-year-old grandmother had gone to hospitals in Barnsley and Wakefield several times, reporting an insect bite above her ankle.
However, it wasn’t until she was referred to a mental health team at Barnsley Hospital last June that she was diagnosed with rabies, reports Yorkshire Live.
A rabies expert said doctors at Barnsley Hospital “were on the right track” as they struggled to find a diagnosis for Yvonne’s rare symptoms.
The Barnsley grandmother had been bitten by a stray dog in Morocco after she got up from a sunbed and startled it. The dog scratched her leg, but the family thought little of the wound, simply wiping it with a wet wipe and not receiving any additional treatment. Yvonne, who leaves behind two children and four grandchildren, died at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, assistant coroner Marilyn Whittle explained to the jury of nine women and three men.
The inquest heard how Yvonne was admitted to Barnsley Hospital on June 2 after several medical appointments in March and April. She was suffering from “severe headaches” and a range of other symptoms, including poor mobility, struggling to drink, hallucinations, anxiety, disorientation and severe agitation.
Doctors at Barnsley Hospital were unable to provide a diagnosis, the jury was told. Junior doctor Dr Awan said: “In view of her current symptoms, we were still trying to find the organic cause. At the moment when we asked about travel history, it was made known that there were some insect bites above the ankle. We were investigating some kind of tick bite encephalitis.
“We were still trying to find if it was neurological or if there was any other cause. There was unexplained anxiety. For the nausea, we weren’t too sure. For the dehydration, there was no working diagnosis. Essentially, there was no working diagnosis at this point.”
On June 6, she was referred to the mental health liaison unit at Barnsley Hospital. Psychiatrist Dr Alex Burns reviewed Yvonne and admitted he had concerns about an infectious disease causing her hallucinations, agitation and anxiety.
Dr Burns said: “I had asked about travel, and I had asked about insect bites. It was very unclear what the diagnosis was. I wanted to think a bit more outside the box and think about rare conditions, including travel-related ones.” Yvonne’s husband informed Dr Burns they had travelled to Morocco in February. He told Dr Burns Yvonne was bitten by a dog on a beach after she startled it by getting up from a sunbed.
Dr Burns added: “I didn’t know all of the symptoms of rabies at that point, but after I spoke to Yvonne’s husband, I did speak to the medical team in the office, and that was to discuss what I had found out so far. At that point, because my knowledge of rabies was limited, I did look into it more regarding the symptoms, and it became clear that all of Yvonne’s symptoms could be explained by that diagnosis at that point.”
Yvonne’s daughter, Robyn Thomson, told Dr Burns: “We see you as a turning point into mum’s care, and we thank you for that.”
Rabies expert Dr Katharine Cartwright, consultant physician at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, defended the medical treatment Yvonne received. “This was a rare presentation of something rare. This was incredibly rare,” she said.
“A rabies diagnosis is so unusual, so out of everyone’s experience, I think it’s not unreasonable for it not to have been considered within a few days. Half of the American rabies diagnoses were made post-mortem. The fact we got a diagnosis of rabies before Yvonne died is good.”
Dr Cartwright explained that there had only been 26 recorded rabies cases in the UK since 1946. Once bitten or scratched, rabies has a near-100 per cent fatality rate, she said, adding: “Once the symptoms start, death within a couple of weeks is the norm. That means the virus has started to replicate in the brain, and it’s not salvageable from that point.”
Dr Cartwright said there was “no way to say when the virus reached her spinal cord”, after which there was no medical treatment. She said the cause of death was 1a rabies encephalitis.
