M**I 发帖数: 491 | 1 Yosemite hantavirus cases rise to 6
4 more cases reported
Author: By the CNN Wire Staff
Published On: Aug 30 2012 10:04:55 PM CDT Updated On: Aug 31 2012 11:13:13
PM CDT
Four more cases of hantavirus have been reported among people who visited
Yosemite National Park in California, bringing the total number of cases to
six, the California Department of Public Health said Thursday. Two of the
six people infected have died.
The health department is "working closely with the National Park Service and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to further investigate the
cluster of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome cases in Yosemite and reduce the
risk of other visitors becoming ill from this virus," said Dr. Ron Chapman,
health department director.
Those infected visited the park between early June and mid-July, the health
department said. Most stayed at the park's popular Curry Village "tent
cabins." Yosemite closed the tent cabins indefinitely on Tuesday.
The park sent letters to around 1,700 summer visitors on Monday and Tuesday,
explaining that hantavirus cases had been uncovered and that visitors
should see their doctors if symptoms surface, park spokesman Scott Gediman
said.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare lung disease that kills about a
third of those who get infected. Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches
and fatigue, though it is not communicable from person to person.
"However, if the individual is experiencing fever and fatigue, and has a
history of potential rural rodent exposure, together with shortness of
breath, (that) would be strongly suggestive of HPS," the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said.
In September 2010, the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge at Yosemite was assessed for
hantavirus risk by the health department and received a rating of "high risk
" for hantavirus activity. The evaluator made a number of recommendations to
decrease the risk. CNN was unable to determine what, if any, action the
park took on the recommendations. The lodge is not in the same area of the
park as Curry Village.
In the United States, the carriers of hantavirus are deer mice, cotton rats,
rice rats and white-footed mice.
The virus can be present in the rodents' urine, droppings and saliva, and it
is spread to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus,
the CDC says.
Don Neubacher, Yosemite's superintendent, said that people typically don't
fall ill with hantavirus until between one and six weeks after they are
exposed.
"The health of our visitors is our paramount concern, and we are making
every effort to notify and inform our visitors of any potential illness,"
Neubacher said.
Officials have focused on deer mice, common in the high-elevation eastern
Sierra Nevada region. The mice are gray or brown on top, with white bellies.
Their ears have no fur.
"Rodents can infest a whole range of these structures," said Dr. Vicki
Kramer, chief of the health department's vector-borne disease section. "Deer
mice can get in a hole one-quarter inch in diameter."
In addition to cleaning the 400 camp structures, park officials have said
they have increased routine measures to reduce the hantavirus risk.
"You cannot eliminate all the mice," Kramer said. "There are a lot of people
and snacks that people bring into their tents or cabins."
Before this year, Yosemite National Park saw one hantavirus case each in
2000 and 2010.
There is no specific treatment for a hantavirus infection, according to the
CDC, but the earlier a patient is brought to intensive care, the better. | M**I 发帖数: 491 | 2 幸亏我们这次没有住curry village 的cabin,现在已经全部关闭了。 | t*********u 发帖数: 26311 | 3 去 洗过澡的怎么办
【在 M**I 的大作中提到】 : 幸亏我们这次没有住curry village 的cabin,现在已经全部关闭了。
| j*****i 发帖数: 1292 | 4 掐指一算,我们还有一周就过潜伏期了, 希望安全。
没住在哪里,但明显记得看见不知道什么鼠,还拍照了。 |
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