An art teacher in California has She died of rabies after being bitten by a bat in her classroom.
Leah Seneng, 60, was at work when she noticed a bat trapped in her classroom at Byrant Middle School in Dos Palos, which is about an hour’s drive from Fresno.
But while she was trying to rescue him and free him, he suddenly bit her. TOAbout a month later he became ill and went into a medically induced coma.
Four days later, on November 22, the married mother of one died.
Laura Splotch, Seneng’s lifelong friend, details the chain of events. ABC30 News: ‘I don’t know if she thought he was dead or why he was lying in her classroom and she was trying to pick him up and take him outside.
‘She didn’t want to hurt him. But that’s when, I guess, it woke up or saw the light or whatever, turned a little and took off.
Splotch said Seneng did not show any symptoms of rabies in the days after the attack. Initial symptoms of the viral illness include fever, headache, malaise, decreased appetite, or vomiting.
Only several weeks later Ms Seneng’s condition worsened and her daughter took her to the hospital.
Splotch said it was “devastating” to see Seneng’s condition deteriorate, “with all the machines hooked up and everything, it was quite disturbing and terrifying.”
Leah Seneng, 60, who taught art at Byrant High School in Dos Palos, tried to rescue a bat in mid-October, but it bit her.
The rabies virus is transmitted to humans through the saliva of infected animals, including bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes.
However, Seneng did not think much about the bite and did not seek medical attention after the incident.
Rabies has one of the highest mortality rates of all viruses (nearly 100 percent without a vaccine) with fewer than 20 documented survivors.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health worked with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate rabies as a possible cause of Ms. Seneng’s illness when she was taken to the hospital.
The collected samples were sent to the state’s Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory (VRDL), where evidence of rabies was confirmed.
Following the incident, Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health and state public health officer, said: ‘Bat bites can be incredibly small and difficult to see or detect. It is important to wash your hands and look for open wounds after handling a wild animal, and seek immediate medical attention if bitten.
‘It is always safer to leave wild animals alone. Do not approach, touch or attempt to feed any animal you do not know.’
TO GoFundMe page has been created to help Ms. Seneng’s family during this time.
Rabies kills about 70,000 people worldwide each year, although most deaths are concentrated in countries with inadequate public health resources, such as wide-ranging vaccination programs for people and animals.
In the U.S., fewer than 10 cases of rabies occur each year. That rate was once more than 100 before the arrival of vaccines for people and pets in the late 19th century.
The vaccine can be administered after a person has been exposed and is 100 percent effective if given within 48 hours of exposure.
A bat’s fangs are incredibly small and someone who is bitten by the animal may not be able to see the mark, so doctors recommend that anyone who has been in contact with a bat receive a rabies vaccine.
While common beliefs about rabies may lead people to think that all infected animals are aggressive or show signs of foaming at the mouth, any change in an animal’s usual behavior can be an early indicator of rabies.
A bat that is active during the day, is on the ground, or appears unable to fly should be treated with caution.
Large swaths of California’s bat population have been wiped out since the arrival of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease first identified in New York in 2006.
It causes a white fungal growth in bats that causes their skin to disintegrate over time.
It disrupts their ability to hibernate. When they wake up early, their metabolism speeds up and uses up stored fat reserves for the winter as they struggle to find food, leaving them malnourished and without energy.
But bats are essential to the environment, keeping insect populations in check, helping to maintain an area’s ecosystem, guard against disease and protect crops from pests.
Large swaths of California’s bat population have been wiped out since the arrival of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease first identified in New York in 2006.
Rabies affects bats in a similar way to how it affects humans.
Once the virus reaches the brain, it binds to nerve cells, where it can replicate uncontrollably and rapidly, causing a constellation of symptoms that begin with fever, fatigue and headache.
As the infection progresses, it causes respiratory spasms that cause gasping, wheezing, and chest tightness.
It also causes spasms in the throat when swallowing when trying to drink water, causing anxiety about drinking water, also called hydrophobia. People with rabies often die from severe dehydration.
Anger changes a person’s mental state, causing confusion, agitation and aggression, as well as seizures in some cases. As the disease worsens, paralysis appears, starting in the extremities.
The infection almost always causes coma and death within a few weeks of onset if a vaccine is not administered in time.
Around the world, dogs are the main carriers of rabies. But in the United States, about 70 percent of rabies infections arise from exposure to bats.
The California Department of Public Health reminds Californians to be careful of wild or unknown animals that follow Death of Mrs. Seneng.
If they suspect they may have been exposed to rabies through a bite from wild or unknown animals (especially bats and skunks), they are urged to seek medical attention immediately.