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An NBA secret plan got a little batty last week when a confused - looking bat fly into the arena , interrupting swordplay between the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Clippers . Now , health officials say some people who attended the game may have beenexposed to rabies .

On Thursday ( Feb. 7 ) , a bat swooped into the Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena in Indianapolis and darted around the tribunal and lover ' seats . video of the gameshow officials and devotee swatting at the bat with towels or even their hand to get the flying mammal to leave .

A bat flew through the arena during an Indiana Pacers vs. Los Angeles Clippers game on Feb. 7, 2019.

A bat flew through the arena during an Indiana Pacers vs. Los Angeles Clippers game on Feb. 7, 2019. Above, the bat can be seen in the upper-right corner.

Over the weekend , the Indiana State Department of Health ( ISDH)issued a statementsaying that anyone who had lineal contact with the bat — meaning they touched the bat with their bare skin — may have been exposed to rabies , and these individuals should get in spot with the ISDH or their health care supplier about receivingrabies vaccinations .

So far , there have been no report of anyone bear upon the bat with their bare tegument , the affirmation said .

Rabies is a viral disease that dissemble the central nervous system . It ’s usually spread through the bite of an septic animal .

a rendering of the rabies virus

The disease is very rare in the United States , with only about one or two human instance of rabies reported each year , according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC ) . But most human case in the U.S. are relate with exposure to bats , the CDC says .

Any bat that is dynamic during the day or found in a place where it is n’t opine to be — like inside a dwelling house , or in this pillow slip , a basketball arena — might be fanatical , the CDC says . Still , only a little share of bat in the U.S. have hydrophobia , the agency notes .

Originally published onLive Science .

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