Very much like Dracula, real Vampire Bats must feast on fresh blood every two to three days, or die of starvation. They seek out warm blooded mammals. Increasingly, real Vampire Bats are targeting humans †

Not all Vampire Bats carry deadly bacteria, but, in Latin America, the Vampire Bat carries an infectious bacteria that can be transmitted to humans called Bartonella. It causes endocarditis, a potentially life-threatening illness and is found to be distributed widely in Central and South America as opposed to geological areas. The infectious bats were found in Peru and Belize  †