• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Rare Virus Takes Life of Nebraskan State Health Officials Confirm the Rodent-Borne Hantavirus Caused a Man's Death.Fighting Hantavirus

Posted on: Friday, 6 May 2005, 21:00 CDT

A western Nebraska man in his early 50s died in late April after being infected with the rare hantavirus, state officials have confirmed.

The man, who worked in a rural agricultural setting, saw his doctor after becoming ill but declined to be immediately hospitalized, said Dr. Tom Safranek, state epidemiologist.

He was hospitalized the next day in North Platte, Neb. He was transferred to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he died.

"It was very quick," Safranek said.

The man is the fourth person in Nebraska to die of the disease, according to state records. Nine cases have been confirmed, the first occurring in 1998. The last reported case was in 2003. Two possible additional cases have not been resolved.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome attacks the lungs, destroying air sacs and preventing the movement of oxygen into the body, Safranek said.

Infected rodents transmit the potentially deadly disease through urine, droppings or saliva. Humans can contract it when they breathe in aerosolized virus.

The disease was virtually unheard of in the United States until an outbreak of an unexplained pulmonary illness in May 1993 in the Four Corners area, where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet.

Through May 3, 2005, 387 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome had been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thirty-six percent of all reported cases have resulted in death, according to CDC data.

The disease, however, is rare.

"If you get it, you don't do well, but it's very rare to get it," Safranek said.

Preliminary information indicates that the Nebraska man may have been working in areas where there were rodents or rodent droppings, he said.

No signs of the illness have been found in anyone else, Safranek said. The state has alerted the man's family in case someone else was frequenting the same areas.

The man "was doing the kind of things thousands of people do and never have a problem with it," Safranek said.

The virus has been found in mice across the state, said Wayne Kramer, state entomologist.

The rodents most likely to carry the virus are the deer mouse and the white-footed mouse, which are more common in rural areas. The house mouse is more common in urban areas.

Fighting hantavirus

To prevent the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends eliminating contact with rodents around the home, workplace and campsite. Cleaning areas likely to contain rodents is one way to prevent the disease. But cleaning must be done carefully because it can circulate the virus.

The CDC offers some tips:

Allow fresh air to circulate through buildings that have been closed for long periods of time. Don latex rubber gloves before cleaning and wear an air-purifying mask. Wet contaminated areas with detergent or liquid. Once everything is wet, pick up contaminated areas with a damp towel, then mop or sponge the area with disinfectant. When handling dead mice, spray them with disinfectant and place them inside two bags. Burn them, bury them or throw them away. Disinfect gloves before taking them off, then wash hands thoroughly.

Source: Omaha World - Herald

More News in this Category