Horror as hundreds of students are forced to evacuate university dorm to escape rabies-infected bats
Hundreds of Arizona college students are being forced to evacuate their dorms after the building was overtaken by rabies-infected bats just weeks before Halloween.
About 500 Northern Arizona University (NAU) students living in Mountain View Hall — which houses mostly freshmen and sophomores — were told to pack their bags on Friday and Saturday, the newspaper said. Family AZ.
At least five bats have been seen flying around the dormitory in the past five days and one was even caught sleeping on the ceiling, as mitigation efforts have failed to get the pesky creatures out.
One bat tested in September came back positive for rabies, according to Coconino County Health and Human Services.
“In close consultation with Coconino County Health and Human Services, NAU has provided guidance to residents on health and safety and initiated mitigation protocols throughout the building, supported by a pest controller,” the school said in a statement to AZ Family.
About 500 Northern Arizona University (NAU) students living in Mountain View Hall — which houses mostly freshmen and sophomores — were told to pack their bags Friday and Saturday due to a bat infestation
One video, shared on Instagram, showed hundreds of bats circling the roof of the building
One bat tested in September came back positive for rabies, according to Coconino County Health and Human Services
One video, shared on Instagramshowed hundreds of bats circling the roof of the building.
No injuries were reported, but some students received a rabies vaccination as a precaution, according to AZ Family.
Students will move to nearby accommodations.
“Based on further consultation with CCHHS, we have determined that to best ensure the health, well-being and academic success of our students, all Mountain View residents will be relocated to other nearby apartments,” the school told AZ Family.
“This will support our students and enable extensive and ongoing bat control efforts in the building.”
According to students, a few hundred bats climbed out of the walls.
“I just heard squeaking coming from the walls,” said an unidentified student. “I thought, Oh no,” she said, dragging out the last two words.
Students said the school has sent students an email telling them what to do if they encounter an infected bat.
“This is what you do when you encounter a bat with rabies, and it’s like hmm, how about I don’t encounter the bat with rabies,” the girl’s roommate told Family AZ.
Some of the advice given to students was to “shake out all our clothes, move stuff around our rooms, look under every corner, every desk, everything we can find; pat down our pillow and sheets.”
The male students said, “That was the email that made me want to move.”
Despite the fear of illness, one student. Jake Fagonehad fun with the situation and dressed up in a bat Halloween costume and walked around the dorm.
About 70 percent of Americans who have died from rabies were infected by a bat, according to the American newspaper CDC.
If you contract rabies, it has a high mortality rate, but in the US the infection is rare, with fewer than ten deaths per year.
Once symptoms appear, rabies is “virtually 100 percent fatal,” the researchers said WHO.
The disease is spread by bites, scratches and direct contact with eyes, mouth or open wounds, the WHO said.