What Caused the Yosemite Hantavirus Outbreak?
Earlier this week the World Health Organization issued a global warning to travelers who might have come into contact with the deadly hantavirus while staying in Yosemite National Park in California. So far, three* people have died and at least half a dozen more have been sickened by the virus, which causes pulmonary distress. The outbreak is unusual in that cases of the virus are usually solitary and most have come from the high desert areas in or near New Mexico.
Most victims likely picked up the infection while staying in insulated tent cabins that were infested with mice, which carry the disease. The U.S. National Park Service estimates that as many as 10,000 people might be at risk of having been exposed to the disease since early June. And it has urged anyone who stayed in the "Signature Tent Cabins" in Yosemite’s Curry Village to be vigilant about looking for flulike symptoms, which can signal the onset of the illness. The virus can take as long as six weeks to incubate.
The infection was initially described in New Mexico about 20 years ago. It is exceedingly rare, with only about 600 documented cases in the U.S. But it is extremely deadly, killing more than one in three people who contract it.
The deer mice (Peromyscus) and other rodents that have been known to carry the disease, however, are by no means limited to high desert or mountainous areas and can be found throughout North America. So does that mean hantavirus could spread to other parts of the country?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=yosemite-hantavirus-outbreak&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20120907
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