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California teacher dies after being bitten by a bat inside her classroom

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Minnesota health officials investigating rare rabies death


Minnesota health officials investigating rare rabies death

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A central California teacher died last month after she was bitten by a bat that presumably had rabies inside her classroom, officials and a friend of the woman, marking the third such fatality in North America in recent weeks.  

In the wake of Leah Seneng’s death on Nov. 22, public health officials are warning the public about the dangers of bats, which are the most common source of human rabies in the U.S. Even though fewer than 10 people in the country die from rabies each year, it is almost always fatal if not treated quickly.

Seneng, 60, found a bat in her classroom in mid-October, her friend Laura Splotch told KFSN-TV. She tried to scoop it up and take it outside but it bit her, Splotch said.

Seneng did not immediately have symptoms of rabies but she fell ill weeks later and was taken to the hospital, where she was put into a medically-induced coma and died days later, Splotch told the TV station.

“It’s devastating to see her in that state, with all the machines hooked up and everything, it was pretty upsetting and scary,” Splotch told KFSN.

According to her Facebook profile, Seneng was an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, California. The Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District, called Seneng “a dedicated and compassionate educator.”

leah-seneng-94100744-10158471520937053-2835962146725036032-n.jpg
Leah Seneng

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“We were shocked to learn that Leah’s passing was related to contracting rabies, most likely from being bitten by a bat and we are cooperating with the Merced County Department of Public Health on their investigation,” the school district said in a statement. “We live and work in a community known to have bats and other wildlife around school grounds, and we will continue to help educate our community regarding the dangers associated with coming into direct contact with any wild animal, including bats.”

Merced County confirmed the rabies exposure but, due to privacy laws, did not release the deceased’s name. The California Department of Public Health confirmed that the victim died after contracting rabies.

“Bites from bats can be incredibly small and difficult to see or to detect. It is important to wash your hands and look for any open wounds after touching a wild animal, and to seek immediate medical care if bitten,” CDPH Director Dr. Tomás J. Aragón said in a statement. “It is always safest to leave wild animals alone. Do not approach, touch, or try to feed any animals that you don’t know.”   

At least two other people in North America have died of rabies after encountering a bat in recent weeks. Last month, health officials in Canada announced that a child died from rabies after being exposed to a bat in their room. About a week before that, officials announced a U.S. citizen died from rabies after being exposed to a bat in western Minnesota in July.

How is rabies spread and what are the symptoms?

Rabies is a deadly viral infection that attacks the nervous system in humans and animals, causing brain and spinal cord inflammation. It is typically spread to humans through direct contact with the saliva of an infected animal through scratching or biting.

Rabies is commonly found in bats, raccoons, foxes, skunks and some household pets. Without proper and prompt treatment after symptoms appear, rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal in both animals and humans, according to Haldimand and Norfolk Health Services, where the child was admitted. 

Treatment has proven to be nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease if someone is exposed, though it must start before symptoms appear.  

Bats pose a unique risk because their scratches can be hard to notice due to their small teeth, and bats cannot be vaccinated through provincial programs, health officials said.

If bitten by an animal suspected of carrying the virus, health officials advise washing the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes and immediately seeking medical attention.

According to the CDC, the incubation period of rabies may last from weeks to months, depending on the location of exposure, severity of exposure and age.

“The first symptoms of rabies, called prodrome, maybe like the flu, including weakness, discomfort, fever, or headache. There also may be discomfort, prickling, or an itching sensation at the site of the bite. These symptoms may last for several days,” the CDC says.



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Pete Hegseth continues to meet with lawmakers amid replacement reports; Magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Humboldt County, California

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Tsunami warning canceled following California earthquake

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Israel accused of genocide in Gaza by Amnesty International, calls claim “entirely false and based on lies”

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The rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and called on the United Nations’ International Criminal Court “to urgently consider adding genocide to the list of crimes it is investigating and for all states to use every legal avenue to bring perpetrators to justice.”

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, insisting that it has a right to defend itself after the Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers carried out their brutal attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since the start of the war in Gaza, at least 44,580 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and most of its residents have been internally displaced.

In a report published Thursday, the London-based rights group said it had found “sufficient basis” to conclude Israel had and was continuing to commit the crime of genocide in Gaza.

Genocide consists of “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” according to the 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide.

“Amnesty International’s report demonstrates that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza,” Agnès Callamard, the group’s secretary general, said in a statement. “These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them. Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now.”

The rights group said countries that supply weapons to Israel, including the United States, “must know they are violating their obligation to prevent genocide and are at risk of becoming complicit in genocide.” 

Amnesty said such countries “must act now to bring Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza to an immediate end.”

“The deplorable and fanatical organisation Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on social media in response to the report.

Amnesty International’s own branch inside Israel said it did not accept the main findings of the report accusing the country of genocide, but it called for an immediate end to the war and an investigation into serious violations of international law and crimes against humanity.

The report comes two weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, as well as for a Hamas leader who Israel says was killed in an airstrike over the summer.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on a tent camp where many displaced people are living in southern Gaza killed at least 21 people and wounded 28, the director of Nasser Hospital located in the nearby city of Khan Younis, Atif al-Hout, said.

The Israeli military said it had hit senior Hamas militants “involved in terrorist activities” in the area, The Associated Press reported. Earlier Israeli strikes in Gaza killed eight people, four of them children, the AP reported.



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