A compassionate art teacher from California tragically lost her life to rabies after attempting to rescue a bat in her classroom, as reported by local health officials in Fresno County. Leah Seneng, 60, discovered the bat in her classroom at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos in mid-October and tried to help it.
Laura Splotch, a close friend of Seneng, shared with local media that Seneng found the bat lying in her classroom and attempted to move it outside. “She didn’t want to harm it. But that’s when, I guess it woke up or saw the light or whatever it swooped around a bit and it took off,” Splotch said.
Approximately a month after the incident, Seneng fell ill. Her daughter rushed her to a hospital where she passed away on November 22, four days after being placed in a medically induced coma.
In the wake of Seneng’s death, Splotch set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral expenses. As of Thursday, the campaign had raised around $1,500.
Fresno County health officials did not respond to requests for comment. Rabies, a fatal yet preventable viral disease, causes fewer than 10 deaths in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 60,000 Americans receive post-exposure prophylaxis, a preventative treatment, after potential exposure to rabies each year.
The high mortality rate of rabies in humans has led health officials to take significant measures to prevent it. The disease is commonly found in several wild animals, particularly bats and raccoons.
In a related incident, P’Nut the Squirrel, a rodent famous on the internet, was seized by state officials in upstate New York to be tested for rabies. This procedure requires euthanization and decapitation. Officials claimed that P’Nut, who had lived as a pet for seven years without showing signs of rabies, had bitten a wildlife agent. P’Nut’s rabies test results came back negative.