Deadly Virus Strikes State This Summer Rodent-Borne Infection Kills One, Hospitalizes Another, Washington Health Officials Announce

Two years ago, hantavirus was a rodent-borne infection plaguing the Southwest and mystifying researchers.

Now the infamous virus is striking close to home, killing a Yakima man and hospitalizing a Stevens County woman this summer, state health officials announced Thursday.

“This is not a situation that calls for any panic,” said state epidemiologist Paul Stehr-Green. “But it’s out there.”

The cases are the first reported this year in Washington. Last year, a Lewis County, Wash., man died of hantavirus. In Idaho, several cases have been identified, including a 13-year-old Coeur d’Alene boy who died in 1993.

Hantavirus can cause serious respiratory problems that lead to death within days.

It is transmitted by inhaling microscopic particles of urine, feces or saliva from infected mice. Symptoms include high fever, muscle aches, headache, coughing, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

“People having flu-like symptoms with difficulty breathing should see a doctor immediately,” said Jim Matsuyama, environmental health director for the Northeast Tri-County Health District.

The Stevens County woman had been cleaning a root cellar where mice nested in the past, said Matsuyama.

Within a few days, she fell ill and developed breathing problems. On July 3, she was admitted to Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, where a suspicious doctor tested her for hantavirus.

The 50-year-old woman, who lives near Tum Tum, was released this week, but isn’t “up and running around,” Matsuyama said. Her name was not released.

The Yakima man, 22, was hospitalized with similar symptoms and died July 6.

He may have caught the virus while working in fields or living with a group of other farm workers, said Stehr-Green.

Blood samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta tested positive for antibodies to the virus.

Although hantavirus wasn’t identified until 1993, researchers suspect it has been around much longer.

“Part of what’s going on is that people are thinking about it more and recognizing it more,” said StehrGreen.

In Stevens County, health officials are giving doctors lists on preventing and identifying hantavirus.

“We have deer mice infestations all over the state,” said Matsuyama. “People all over need to be careful.”

State health workers also are sleuthing through old medical records in unexplained deaths to see if any match hantavirus symptoms.

Last fall, investigators tested tissue from a woman who had died nearly a decade earlier after cleaning a vacant farmhouse.

Tests showed the hantavirus killed the 29-year-old Lincoln County woman, who died at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PREVENTION The Washington state Department of Health offers these tips to avoid the hantavirus, which is carried by mice.

When camping or hiking outdoors: Avoid rodents and areas where you see burrows or rodent droppings. Pitch tents well away from garbage cans, woodpiles or other places where rodents live. Use a floored tent and don’t sleep on bare ground. Store food in tightly covered containers and keep trash in covered garbage cans.

While around the house: Keep mice away from areas where people live and work. Store grains and animal feed in containers with tight-fitting covers. Use a plastic trash can with a lid for kitchen garbage and food scraps. Plug or cover all openings in buildings that are larger than one-quarter inch wide. and use steel wool to plug holes around the base of buildings. Keep the area within 100 feet of houses clear of junk piles, debris or old cars where mice nest.