Undated handout shows the ultrastructural appearance of a number of virus particles of a hantavirus known as the Sin Nombre virus (SNV) (Photo : Reuters)
Over the weekend the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified 39 other countries, primarily in the European Union, that people who recently visited Yosemite National Park may have been infected with the rodent-borne Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10,000 people are at risk from staying in "signature tent cabins" in Curry Village between June 10 and August 24, 2012.
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Dr. David Wong, an epidemiologist with the National Park Service's Office of Public Health, spoke with the Los Angeles Times and revealed that between 2,000 and 2,500 people from outside the United States were potentially exposed to the disease. Wong said, "Notification's still important. That's why we extended to international countries once we had that information."
"I want people to know about this so they take it seriously," Wong continued. "We're doing our due diligence to share the information."
Hantavirus is carried in viral particles inhaled from rodent feces and urine. The disease can also be transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces, being bitten by infected rodents, and eating contaminated food. It is not known to be transmittable between humans. In Yosemite's "signature tent cabins," deer mice were found occupying the walls.
Hantavirus is fatal in 36 percent of all cases, and was first identified in 1993. Since then, it has killed 64 Californians and 590 Americans according to Wong.
The recent Hantavirus outbreak has taken the lives of two men and afflicted four other U.S. citizens.
Symptoms include muscle aches, fever, shortness of breath and coughing, and headache. Hantavirus has been known to incubate for up to six weeks and cause serious breathing problems and death. There is currently no cure for the virus, but health officials suggest blood tests should be sought out for those who experience symptoms, as it increases survival rates.