The teacher was reportedly trying to scoop the bat up to get it out of her classroom when it woke up and bit her.

A California teacher has reportedly died of rabies after she was bitten by a bat she found in her classroom. Fresno County has confirmed one of its residents passed away from the disease after a suspected bat bite, but declined to identify the victim.

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

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

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.

Fresno County health officials confirmed its first human case of rabies since 1992 has claimed the life of a California art teacher.

While rabies can be deadly, cases — especially fatal ones — are extremely rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fewer than 10 rabies deaths are reported in the United States each year. The last reported rabies death in Fresno County was in 1992.

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.

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.