‘Flu’ Illness Is Confirmed As Hantavirus

The respiratory illness of a 52-year-old man has been confirmed as hantavirus, a potentially fatal disease carried by deer mice.

Dennis White of Husum, just north of White Salmon, contracted the disease in June after vacuuming a mouse nest and droppings from a storage area in his Husum home, said Janet Charles, deputy director of the Southwest Washington Health District.

He was hospitalized July 1-8 with breathing problems, fever and flu-like symptoms at Southwest Washington Medical Center, she said, and has recovered. Tests for hantavirus were done then but results were not available until last week.

White is the first person diagnosed with hantavirus in the Southwest Washington Health District, which includes Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties. Husum is in western Klickitat County.

Fourteen cases of the disease have been reported in Washington since 1994. Seven of the patients died, including a 23-year-old Seattle man July 8.

Hantavirus gained national attention in 1993, when a rash of mysterious, flu-like symptoms followed by swift death killed dozens of people in the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet.

People contract the virus when they inhale dust after disturbing nests of infected mice or breathe in closed areas where the mice live. Symptoms include fever, chills and muscle aches, followed by respiratory distress.