Health officials are warning Californians of the dangers associated with handling wild animals after a Central Valley art teacher was bitten by a bat inside her classroom and later died of rabies.

Seneng had tried to save a bat she found lying in her classroom at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos last month.

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.

A woman from California dies after getting bitten by a bat in the classroom while she was trying to scoop it up and put it outside safely.

A California man from Fresno County has died after being bitten by a rabid bat a month prior in Merced County. State and local health officials confirmed rabies as the cause. Health authorities warn that bat bites may be small and hard to detect,

A California middle school teacher has reportedly died after she was bitten by a bat inside her classroom in Dos Palos

Rabies is a fatal illness caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system, leading to central nervous system disease and, without timely medical intervention, death.

A California art teacher has died from rabies after she was bitten by a bat inside her school classroom. Leah Seneng, a 60-year-old teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, Merced County, had spotted the wild bat in her classroom sometime in mid-October, her close friend Laura Splotch told ABC30.