Rabid bat bites sleeping student in Teter Quad

On March 21, a rabid bat bit a resident of Teter Quad, said Mark Land, associate vice president for university communications.

The student was sleeping when the bat bit him. Land said the student then woke up, shook the bat off in the hallway and went back to sleep.

Later that day, the bat was captured alive by Teter staff and sent to the Indiana State Department of Health for disease testing. It died on the way.

On Thursday, the bat was determined to be rabid.

Land said even before the official declaration of rabies, the bitten student had gone to the health center to have the bite examined. As soon as it was determined the bat was rabid, he began rabies vaccinations, as did his roommate, as a precaution.
How the bat got into the dorm room remains a mystery, Land said.

“We very quickly launched an investigation,” Land said. “We wanted to make sure there was no bat infestation.” 

No infestation was found in the dorm or in the trees surrounding Teter Quad. Land said no holes or tears were found in the window screen in the room.

“We didn’t see anything obvious,” Land said. “The student’s room has a screen in it, and the screen wasn’t torn. We looked around to make sure there wasn’t any little opening in a wall or a pipe or whatever. We probably will never know at this point.”

Teter residents received an email Tuesday alerting them to the situation and urging them to visit the IU Health Center if they came into contact with a bat or even woke up with a bat in their room, said Diana Ebling, medical director of the health center.

“You do want to act as soon as possible and as soon as you know you might be at risk,” Ebling said. “Typically, it’s someone who’s been bitten or if they’ve been touched or scratched by an animal with rabies.”

As for the state of the bitten student, both Land and Ebling said they could not comment due to confidentiality.

“I would just say everything is fine,” Ebling said.

Both Land and Ebling emphasized the rarity of the situation but also the need for students to be proactive in preventing any sort of contact with wild animals.

“This is the first documented rabid animal in Monroe County in over 30 years,” Land said. “We sent a note to everybody in Teter telling them what happened and educating everybody with a little common sense. You know if you see a bat in the dorm, don’t pick it up. Don’t approach it. You just don’t know.”