Web UpdateSaturday, Sept. 1 11:39 a.m.

University Police Department officers found a rabid juvenile bat this week in a widely used academic building.

The unconscious bat was found on the fifth floor of Funger Hall, located on 22nd and G streets, according to an online University alert.

The alert adds that no one came into contact with the animal. Upon being retrieved, the University Police Department placed the bat in a box and sent it to D.C. Animal Control.

On Friday evening, the Vice President of Communications Michael Freedman said that Funger and Duques halls – a building connected to Funger – had been swept and no other bats were found.

He added that notice signs were posted in the buildings instructing people to keep all windows closed.

Peggy Keller, chief of the bureau of community hygiene at the D.C. Department of Health, brought the bat to the public health lab to be tested. On Thursday night the tests came back positive, she said.

“It’s important that we investigate whether there is a possibility that anybody came into contact with the bat, and to look at what the contact was,” Keller said. Rabies can be prevented by a series of shots called Prophylaxis if caught early, she added.

There is no cure for rabies after symptoms of the disease appear, according to the Center for Disease Control Web site.

Keller said that more disoriented, juvenile bats come into contact with humans during the summer months because they are kicked out of their mother’s nest and left to fend for themselves. The bat found in Funger was a juvenile.

The University is encouraging members of the GW community to avoid wild animals around campus. Anyone who spots a wild, potentially rabid animal should contact UPD at 994-6111.

Check gwhatchet.com and Tuesday’s issue of The Hatchet for more information.