Two may have contracted hantavirus while visiting Yosemite
updated 7:25 PM EDT, Fri August 17, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Park said it disinfected 400 cabins
- Man, woman in June visited camping area in Yosemite National Park
- They may have been exposed to deadly hantavirus
- Deer mice might be to blame
The visitors contracted
hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, a rare but often fatal lung disease.
The two had stayed at the popular
Curry Village in mid-June, according to the California Department of Public
Health.
An unidentified 37-year-old man
from the San Francisco Bay area died in late July, said Dr. Vicki Kramer, chief
of the department's vector-borne disease section.
A Southern California woman in
her 40s survived and is recovering, Kramer told CNN.
The two stayed in separate
locations at the village, which contains about 400 canvas tent and wooden
cabins.
"They are very sparse but
comfortable," Yosemite ranger and spokesman Scott Gediman said of the tent
cabins where the man and woman stayed.
Officials have focused on deer
mice, common in the high-elevation eastern Sierra Nevada region. The mice are
gray or brown on top, with white bellies. Their ears have no fur.
"Rodents can infest a whole range
of these structures," Kramer said. "Deer mice can get in a hole one-quarter inch
in diameter."
In the United States, the
carriers of hantavirus are deer mice, cotton rats, rice rats and white-footed
mice, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
virus can be present in the rodents' urine, droppings and saliva, and is spread
to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus, the CDC
says.
The virus is not communicable
from person to person.
Rodent control is the primary
strategy for preventing the hantavirus syndrome, according to the CDC.
California's health department
has worked with Yosemite National Park for years to reduce the risks to
visitors, Kramer said. The agency and park public health officers routinely
conduct rodent surveillance, and the park inspects buildings and facilities, it
said.
The battle begins with workers
routinely disinfecting floors and removing mouse droppings.
Once park officials learned of
the two cases, all 400 camp structures were thoroughly cleaned, Gediman said
Thursday.
Yosemite National Park has
increased routine measures to reduce the hantavirus risk, according to
officials.
"You cannot eliminate all the
mice," Kramer said. "There are a lot of people and snacks that people bring into
their tents or cabins."
Gediman said officials consider
Curry Village safe and guests have not canceled lodging reservations in the
busiest month of the year at Yosemite.
Officials urge people to clean
areas of rodent infestation with caution.
It's best not to vacuum or
sweep, because that can push hantavirus particles into the air, where they can
enter the lungs.
Rather, people should wear
gloves and use bleach where they see mouse droppings. They should let the bleach
sit for 15 minutes before using a mop or sponge to clean up.
Opening shuttered areas to air
and sunlight also is suggested.
The two recent hantavirus cases
bring the 2012 total in California to four. About one-third of the 60 cases
reported in the state since 1993 have been fatal, the department said. Yosemite
National Park saw one hantavirus case each in 2000 and 2010.
There is no specific treatment
for hantavirus infection, according to the CDC, but the earlier the patient is
brought to intensive care, the better.
Diagnosis is difficult, because
early symptoms of fever, muscle aches and fatigue often are confused with the
flu.
"However, if the individual is
experiencing fever and fatigue, and has a history of potential rural rodent
exposure, together with shortness of breath, (that) would be strongly suggestive
of HPS," the CDC says.
