It was Brazil's first case of the deadly disease being transmitted from a bat to a human in 13 years.
Souza was reportedly milking a cow when he stood on a bat and was bitten. He washed the wound but avoided seeing a doctor.
Three weeks later he died, after suffering headaches, shortness of breath, severe anxiety and nausea. It was too late for doctors to administer a lifesaving vaccination.
Health authorities issued a public alert, prompting a flurry of reports of attacks.
A resident in Salvador, some 650 kilometres, recounted waking up to find his bed sheets soaked in blood after being bitten during the night.
Matheus Andrade told The Mirror he was terrorised in his sleep by bats with a taste for blood over two nights.
"I was bitten three times, twice on my toes and once on my heel, on two successive nights around the middle of May," Mr Andrade, 22, said.
"I didn't realise until the second time that I had been attacked by a bat. At first I thought I had somehow cut my toe during the night.
"I normally sleep with the windows and doors open and the bats flew in. I never felt any pain at all on both the nights I was bitten. But in my dreams, I did feel as if something had hooked itself onto my toe.
"When I woke up in the morning, I found the bed was wet. It had been raining overnight and I thought water had dripped in. But it was my blood. It was such a shock."
He is now one of dozens of Brazilians on a 30-day course of anti-rabies medication.
This latest terrifying spate of attacks mirrors similar incidents in 2005, when rapid vampiric bats began attacking people - predominantly children - while they slept.
Over several weeks a staggering 23 people died and 1300 sought treatment, New Scientist reported.
To avoid similar pandemonium, disease control officers have started a large-scale cull of bats in regions that have been inundated with new populations.
And they've also taken to vaccinating people's pets. A public awareness campaign is now under way.
