The parent brought the dead bat to school Monday morning and allowed kindergarten and fifth-grade students in her children's classes to touch the animal after giving the group a short presentation, said Stevensville School Superintendent Kent Kultgen.
The woman, who reportedly works as a nurse in Missoula, offered the students a hand sanitizer after they handled the bat.
In total, there may be up to 100 people who may be at risk for the disease, said Dr. Carol Calderwood of the Ravalli County Health Department.
County health officials are in the process of interviewing people and evaluating their risk.
While the risk for actually contracting the disease from the dead bat is extremely low, school and county officials are taking the matter very seriously, Calderwood said.
“We are proceeding very carefully,” she said. “We were in the assessment or triage phase Thursday. Public health officials are interviewing people and making an evaluation of risk on a case-by-case basis.”
Rabies is a potentially fatal neurological virus that can be spread through saliva.
County health officials want to determine which students and adults may have touched the animal's mouth to determine who may need the monthlong series of vaccine shots, she said.
“Kids were apparently putting their fingers in the bat's mouth,” Calderwood said.
County health department officials urge anyone who might have come in direct contact with the bat to call the Hamilton office at 375-6670.
“Anyone who feels they may have some exposure risk, but were not at the Stevensville school on Thursday should give us a call,” Calderwood said.
The bat was apparently either found or killed by the woman's family cat either earlier Monday morning or sometime during the previous night.
Kultgen said the woman brought the bat to school when she dropped off her kindergartner. She showed the bat to kindergarten classes before moving to another child's fifth-grade classes.
“She went to a number of different classrooms,” Kultgen said. “We are now trying to determine who actually touched the bat.”
The school sent out notices to parents explaining the situation Monday night after the incident was discovered by the school nurse, Kultgen said.
The bat was confiscated and sent for testing Tuesday. After the tests came back positive for rabies Wednesday, Kultgen said the district called every parent.
“Through all this we've worked very hard to keep the line of communications open to parents,” he said. “Things are going really smooth.”
Becky Rose's 11-year-old son was among the fifth-graders who may have handled the bat.
“I'm not happy about the incident on a couple of different levels,” Rose said. “The bat should not have been allowed on school property. And it shouldn't have been OK with the teachers. I'm pretty bummed for my kid.
“I'm obviously upset and scared about the whole thing,” Rose said.
The school district's liability insurance carrier has been contacted and will handle the cost of the immunizations, Kultgen said.
“They told me it will cost up to $800 per student,” he said. “I've heard that there may be as many as 80 kids who will need the vaccination.”
The vaccine will be ordered and administered by the county health department.
The vaccination process includes a shot of human rabies immune globulin and five shots of vaccine given over a month's time. The shots are given into either shoulder or buttocks.
“The side-effect profile is much lower today for the vaccination than what it had been in the past,” Calderwood said.
The vaccine is in relative short supply. This case alone may deplete much of the nation's supply, but there will be enough to go around, she said.
“We will get what we need,” Calderwood said. “We're not going to be picking and choosing who to give it to Š we'll use due diligence, but everyone with a high enough risk will get the vaccine.”
Report on rabies
Federal, state and county health officials will answer the public's questions about the rabies incident at the Stevensville School District on Friday at 4 p.m. in the Stevensville School District Elementary gymnasium.
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Judith Loring wrote on Oct 3, 2008 7:47 AM:
" I live in Stevensville, my kids went to school here. Everytime I wanted to enter at least the High School building, I was supposed to sign in at the office and a few times when I did not, I was chastised. How on earth did this woman, supposedly a nurse herself (?!)get into the school, into the classrooms, without (a) teachers saying no or (b) school administrators questioning her? No wonder we can't get a bond issue passed to build a new school with this sort of unethical dangerous behavior allowed. No checks, no balances. Wake Up Stevi School! "
Cathy wrote on Oct 3, 2008 9:26 AM:
" I think the woman should be held accountable for the tab on the shots!
Hello it's a wild animal. look don't touch dead or alive. any lessons learned here. "
Hello it's a wild animal. look don't touch dead or alive. any lessons learned here. "
Smokesignals wrote on Oct 3, 2008 9:31 AM:
" The mother is a nurse? I would change to a differnet doctor if I found out this woman was his nurse! The poor children. "
Whisper wrote on Oct 3, 2008 10:17 AM:
" Sadly this is going to look bad for bats. I think its good for kids and people in general not to just assume all bats have rabies and are dangerous. But Im not sure what this gal was thinking showing around a dead bat & letting kids touch its mouth! Thats not bat eduation! People who professionally work with bats, have the rabies vac before they handle them. And a pro would have shown a bat responsibly. "
Bobbi wrote on Oct 3, 2008 1:02 PM:
" I am CURRENTLY undergoing the "Post Exposure Prophylactic", P.E.P Rabies series of vaccinations. Due to being bit multiple times by a cat. These children were trusting an ADULT that it was OK to "touch" this bat. Now, having to go through the P.E.P Series. Which DOES have side effects. Granted, MUCH better then the alternative. But, the side effects are there as well. I don't wish this upon anyone.
The story mentions that the "Nurse's" cat was exposed to the bat by either "finding or killing it". It doesn't say what was done as far as measures to ensure the containment in the animal population of Stevi. PLEASE, MAKE SURE YOUR PETS SHOTS ARE UP TO DATE !!
Stevi parents and students my prayers are with you !!!
http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/09/24/news/mtregional/znews06.txt "
The story mentions that the "Nurse's" cat was exposed to the bat by either "finding or killing it". It doesn't say what was done as far as measures to ensure the containment in the animal population of Stevi. PLEASE, MAKE SURE YOUR PETS SHOTS ARE UP TO DATE !!
Stevi parents and students my prayers are with you !!!
http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/09/24/news/mtregional/znews06.txt "
J wrote on Oct 3, 2008 2:35 PM:
" "Rabies is a potentially fatal neurological virus that can be spread through saliva."
There are less than 10 documented and verifiable cases in which people have survived symptomatic rabies. World wide. That's not potentially fatal. That is near absolutely fatal.
As for Don's comment. We can't fix stupid, but this is criminally stupid and we can prosecute it. "
There are less than 10 documented and verifiable cases in which people have survived symptomatic rabies. World wide. That's not potentially fatal. That is near absolutely fatal.
As for Don's comment. We can't fix stupid, but this is criminally stupid and we can prosecute it. "
Linda wrote on Oct 4, 2008 10:41 AM:
" I am flabbergasted that (1)a supposedly educated woman would take a dead bat to a school and that(2) supposedly educated teachers would allow a dead bat in their classrooms. What in the world were these people thinking? We entrust our children to teachers and each of you who allowed this situation to happen have violated that trust. "
GRANDFATHER wrote on Oct 4, 2008 10:53 AM:
" Hey, Ding Bat, What thougt process were you using to pull this off. Please be sure that all the exposed persons and animals are treated. This disease you get once !!!!!! I guess your insurance company has gotten a call by now. We all hope all the children are OK, including my Grand kids. "
Janene wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:28 AM:
" The woman who brought the bat to school likely wanted children to see such an interesting animal. She probably thought there was no risk since the dead bat couldn't bite as rabies can't survive exposure to air. Unfortunately a scrape from a tooth or cut on a finger could expose someone to the virus. Avoiding potential exposure to rabies is so simple, do not handle sick or dead mammals or approach any mammal that is acting strangely. Typically bats with rabies become lethargic and die. The danger is when people decide to handle them. Most bats do not have the virus, less than 1% of randomly caught and tested bats test positive for rabies but 10% of easy to catch and dying bats test positive. This disease is fatal if contracted so don't take any chances. Enjoy wild animals from a distance. Appreciate that bats are beneficial as predators of insects and are of no risk to you or your family if you leave them alone. "
Don wrote on Oct 3, 2008 6:38 AM: