A teacher infected with rabies died after she was bitten by a bat in her classroom in California.
Fresno County, which declined to identify the victim, confirmed that one of its residents died from the disease after what is presumed to have been a bat bite.
But a friend of the victim told local media The Fresno Bee that it is Leah Seneng, 60an artist and art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos.
The victim was exposed to rabies in mid-October, went to the emergency room in Fresno County last week, was hospitalized on Nov. 18 and died on Nov. 22, said Joe Prado, deputy director of the county’s Department of Public Health. during a press conference on November 26.
Rabies — an almost always fatal viral disease transmitted by saliva — is spread when an infected animal bites or scratches a person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cases of rabies in people are so rare that the last one in Fresno County was reported in 1992, according to Dr. Trinidad Solis, the department’s deputy health director.
Seneng was bitten after finding a bat in her classroom, her friend Laura Splotch explained.
“I don’t know if she thought he was dead or what, because he was lying in the classroom and she tried to pick him up and carry him out,” Splotch told local news station KFSN. “I didn’t want to hurt it, but that’s when I guess (the animal) woke up and saw the light or whatever, got a little agitated and left.”
There is no cure when symptoms appear
At first, the teacher had no symptoms. However, he fell ill a month later.
Symptoms appear four to eight weeks after exposure, so it is important to seek medical attention immediately so that the patient gets vaccinated as soon as possible, explains Solís. This gives the body time to develop antibodies and fight the virus.
The first signs may be flu-like weakness, malaise, fever or headache, according to the CDC. When the disease progresses, it causes brain dysfunctions.
Some symptoms are:
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Confusion
- Agitation
- Delirium
- Hallucinations
- Fear of water
- Hypersalivation
- Seizures
There is no cure once symptoms appear, and most patients die, he added. Seneng was in a coma before he died, according to Splotch.
“It was devastating to see her in that state, with all the machines connected, it was very disturbing and terrifying,” he told KFSN. “He loved life. He spent a lot of time in the mountains, where his mother lived. “He loved exploring the world.”
Rabies is transmitted through saliva and other body fluids, so people the victim had contact with have been vaccinated in case they have been exposed, according to Solís. Also the hospital workers who treated her.
So far there is no evidence of rabies transmission between humans, he added.
In the United States, only one to three cases of rabies in humans are recorded each year, but about 60,000 Americans receive the post-exposure vaccine after an animal bite or scratch, according to the CDC, which indicates that the disease is transmitted primarily by bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes.
