4:10 pm
Thu August 16, 2012

Hantavirus Sickens 2, Kills 1 in Yosemite

Credit Joe Moore / Valley Public Radio



Humans can get the disease through contact with the saliva, feces or urine of infected deer mice. Dr. Dee Lacy, an infectious disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente in Fresno says, "if that is aerosolized, that is it dries up and it blows around, and we breathe it in, then we get the infection in our lungs."

Public health officials issued an advisory today, warning residents about the symptoms of the disease, which usually start about one to six weeks after exposure to the virus. They include fever, headache and muscle ache, and can quickly progress to difficulty breathing, and in some cases death.

Dr. Lacy says because there's no vaccine for hantavirus, identifying the disease early is a top priority for health professionals.

"There is no specific anti-virus therapy for this, but if you get people into the hospital, we can keep somebody alive on a breathing machine while their body can deal with the infection and then they get better."

She says because of its rarity and relatively common symptoms, it can sometimes go undiagnosed. 

"I think that's why public health put out the letter, is that this is an uncommon thing. They're hoping that physicians will recognize that this is a possibility when they see someone with a syndrome that could be consistent with this, and ask about their exposures. Or that maybe some people who have been to Yosemite in the last one to six weeks, and say 'oh my gosh we went in and cleaned up all those dropping in that closet and now I have these muscle aches, I better get in.'"

According to public health officials, Yosemite National Park routinely monitors infections in the deer mice population and inspects park facilities for signs of rodent infestations.

The California Department of Public Health issued the following guidelines for avoiding the virus:







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