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3 At Polk School Are Advised To Seek Rabies Treatment

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

BARTOW - A bat that plunged onto the head of a student at Compass Middle Charter School in Bartow last week was rabid, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The unlucky seventh-grader it fell on, as well as a teacher and another student who touched it, have been advised to seek rabies prevention treatment, the sheriff's office and the school's principal said.

The bat fell from a tree and landed on the student as she walked along a breezeway after an early-morning fire drill, Principal Harry Williams said. Subsequent searches of the school found no other bats and no evidence of roosting spots.

"It was a very young bat," Williams said. "It might have gotten lost."

Williams said at least one student and one teacher touched the bat while it lay on the ground.

This is the fourth case of known rabies in Polk County this year.

Compass Middle Charter School is at 550 E. Clower St., on the campus of Bartow Middle School. It is a general academic school that utilizes alternative teaching techniques, Williams said.

Anyone who may have had contact with the bat is urged to call their doctor and then the Polk County Health Department.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at wtownsend@tampatrib

.com or (863) 284-1409.

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