The baka is a vampiric spirit created when a bokor (a Vodun priest) who has led a life of evil dies. The baka has the ability to shape- shift into any animal it desires and by doing so will have a physical body. Once a form has been assumed, the baka can then hunt down humans to consume their flesh and drink their blood. The baka is especially dangerous because no matter what animal form it takes, it will retain its natural strength, which is powerful enough to kill a healthy adult man. In addition to sating its hunger for blood, the baka oftentimes is a vengeful being, especially if the bokor it was in life was murdered. To ensure that it has its revenge against those responsible for its death, the baka may decide to spread a fatal disease throughout a community.

Source: Davis, Passage of Darkness, 51; Owusu, Voodoo Rituals, 54, 79; Malbrough,Hoodoo Mysteries, 3-4, 131, 180