Although extremely rare, a Central California teacher has died of rabies after a wild bat bit her in a middle school classroom.
The 60-year-old Fresno woman, Leah Seneng, found what appeared to be a lifeless bat while she was teaching her Byrant Middle School students back in October. But when she picked it up to toss it outside, it suddenly moved and bit her.
In the following days after the bite, Seneng appeared to be fine, reports The Independent, so, apparently, she went about her daily business without seeking rabies-related intensive treatment. But rabies symptoms can take one week to one year to appear, according to the World Health Organization, and in Seneng's case, the viral disease hit a month later.
After the teacher, who was also an artist, said she was feeling "unwell" last week, her daughter checked her into a hospital. That same day, she was induced into a coma, reports the Independent. But she died four days later.
From The Independent:
The California Department of Public Health confirmed that a Fresno County resident was "bitten by a presumably rabid bat" in Merced County and warned other residents to remain cautious. …
The agency urged Californians to seek medical attention if they believe they may have been exposed to rabies by being bitten by wild animals, in particular bats and skunks. Bats are the most common source of human rabies in the US.
Although preventable if treated immediately, "once the virus infects the central nervous system, and clinical symptoms appear, rabies is fatal in 100% of cases," reports WHO. "If a person is bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal, they should immediately and always seek PEP [post exposure prophylaxis] care."
Previously: How rabies hitches a ride into the central nervous system
