Show-And-Tell Bat Didn’t Have Rabies After All

A bat that sparked a rabies scare at Centralia Middle School when a student brought it to class for “show and tell” did not have the disease, the Lewis County Health Department said Wednesday.

The department, which sent the bat to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for testing last week, said that agency reported that all tests were negative.

A state epidemiologist earlier said the bat was rabid, and alerted local health officials. School authorities feared as many as 50 students might have come in contact with the bat.

County health officials said students and adults who started a series of preventative rabies shots do not need to continue them.

Two years ago, a Centralia girl died of rabies she apparently got from a bat.