Parts of Jasper National Park are off limits for several days after a woman was bitten by a bat suspected of having rabies.

The incident happened last weekend at Bubbling Springs located about 60 kilometres south of the Jasper town site.

Wildlife officials say this is a rare event, since animals infected with rabies typically live for seven to ten days. But out of precaution, they are keeping people out of the area for that time period.

Park officials say last Sunday, the woman was sitting at a picnic table when a bat swooped down and bit her on the arm. She managed to snap a picture before it flew away. From that experts have determined it was either a northern or western long-eared bat.

It's believed the animal had rabies since it was going against its nocturnal habits and was acting in a threatening manner.

"For them to show up in the middle of the day, that's a signal. That's a bit of an unusual thing and for them to be aggressive like that," said Steve Malcolm with Wildlife Conflict Specialist. "What they want to do is try to avoid that area immediately and report to authorities so we can become aware of that animal and try and manage it."

In this case, authorities say the woman did the right thing. She told park officials what happened then drove to a Hinton hospital for precautionary rabies treatment.

While bats are not the only animals prone to rabies (foxes, raccoons and skunks are common carriers), Alberta Health Services cautions there's no need to panic. In the past 20 years, only five people have died from contracting the disease.

With files from CTV's Jessica Earle...