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. The woman died late last week,

"I don't know if she thought it was dead or what," Laura Splotch, a friend of the victim Leah Seneng, told KFSN

A middle school teacher died after being bitten by a bat in her classroom. The incident occurred in October when she tried to pick up the animal and remove it from her room. RELATED STORIES: Atlanta Woman Bitten By A Cluster of Brown Recluses While Cleaning Shed Leah Seneng,

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.