The "WAGD" post of the day

The outbreak of Hanta Virus among rich yuppies vacationing in Yosemite has made a lot of headlines.

Mother Jones report HERE, includes this CDC map

Huh? I knew about all the cases in the Navajo reservation area, but where did that case in Maine etc come from? No deermice there...

But the CDC notes that several different rodents can carry the virus.

In May of 1993, an outbreak of unexplained illness occurred in the four corners region of the southwestern United States. A cluster of cases presented with influenza type illness that progressed rapidly to a more severe respiratory disease. Within a couple of weeks a newly identified virus, Sin Nombre, was shown to be the cause of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) and the rodent reservoir was shown to be the common Deer Mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus. Over the years HPS appeared to occur throughout the United States and was found to be caused by at least 10 different strains, each associated with different rodent species. Below is technical and clinical information that describes HPS in depth.

which makes me wonder how many cases were never diagnosed in the past...and just died of "viral pneumonia"...

indeed the clue that the disease was local (not a "new" virus or a toxin ) was when the IHS docs consulted the native healers/medicine men, some of whom remembered previous outbreaks of a similar disease in the past when it rained more than usual.

Here is a nice film about how to clean up rat droppings, if you are in an area with Hanta virus: