Reasonable Rascal
07-02-02, 10:41
HANTAVIRUS PULMONARY SYNDROME - USA (NEBRASKA)
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A ProMED-mail post
Date: Sun 30 Jun 2002
Source: Lincoln Journal Star, Sun 30 Jun 2002 [edited]
<http://www.journalstar.com/nebraska.php?story_id=9997>
Nebraska: first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in state
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The death of a man at a Scottsbluff hospital [in June] was Nebraska's first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, state officials have confirmed. State health investigators are trying to determine how the man contracted the rodentborne disease. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that the man died of hantavirus [infection].
Hantavirus is contained in the droppings of mice and other rodents that carry the organism and can be inhaled if it becomes airborne. Samplings done the past several years found that 3 to 5 per cent of the rodents tested in Nebraska carried the virus, stated Dr Thomas Safranek, state epidemiologist. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome begins much like a flu, with muscle aches and a fever, followed by shortness of breath and coughing. It typically progresses rapidly, requiring artificial ventilation within 24 hours.
Safranek said people should not be alarmed. "Our advice to people is to do good rodent control ... whether it is in your house, your workplace, a barn, whatever." Since it is spread through rodent urine, feces, or saliva, people typically contract the disease in rural areas by inhaling the virus particles while cleaning out a rodent infested space, such as a barn, cabin or stable.
Only about 300 cases of the viral illness have been confirmed in the United States, only 15 of them east of the Mississippi River. The disease was first identified in the south west in 1993.
[Byline: Kevin O'Hanlon]
**********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
Date: Sun 30 Jun 2002
Source: Lincoln Journal Star, Sun 30 Jun 2002 [edited]
<http://www.journalstar.com/nebraska.php?story_id=9997>
Nebraska: first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in state
--------------------------------------------------
The death of a man at a Scottsbluff hospital [in June] was Nebraska's first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, state officials have confirmed. State health investigators are trying to determine how the man contracted the rodentborne disease. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that the man died of hantavirus [infection].
Hantavirus is contained in the droppings of mice and other rodents that carry the organism and can be inhaled if it becomes airborne. Samplings done the past several years found that 3 to 5 per cent of the rodents tested in Nebraska carried the virus, stated Dr Thomas Safranek, state epidemiologist. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome begins much like a flu, with muscle aches and a fever, followed by shortness of breath and coughing. It typically progresses rapidly, requiring artificial ventilation within 24 hours.
Safranek said people should not be alarmed. "Our advice to people is to do good rodent control ... whether it is in your house, your workplace, a barn, whatever." Since it is spread through rodent urine, feces, or saliva, people typically contract the disease in rural areas by inhaling the virus particles while cleaning out a rodent infested space, such as a barn, cabin or stable.
Only about 300 cases of the viral illness have been confirmed in the United States, only 15 of them east of the Mississippi River. The disease was first identified in the south west in 1993.
[Byline: Kevin O'Hanlon]