Experts sound alarm about the spread of a rare, fatal rodent virus that could be the next global pandemic.
This week, health officials confirmed that an employee in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona was exposed to Hantavirus, a respiratory disease that spreads by inhaling particles in the air released by droppings of rodents.
The disease that the wife of Gene Hackman Betsy Arakawa killed is so rare in the US that only one or two people die every year, and there have only been around 1,000 cases in the past three decades.
These cases usually belong among farmers, walkers and campers and homeless population groups.
However, the virus is now only detected this year in five inhabitants of Arizona and four people in Nevada, which suggests that cases can increase. In 2024 there were seven confirmed cases and four dead.
The nameless employee was reportedly exposed to Hantavirus while working in the mule pins of the camp, according to a spokesperson for Grand Canyon.
And earlier this year, three people died in remote Mammoth Lakes, California, Hantavirus, even though they were not “involved in activities that are usually associated with exposure,” said state health officials.
Although the park employee is expected to recover completely, Hantavirus can lead to Hantavirus Long syndrome (HPS), so that the lungs fill with liquid and kill up to 50 percent of patients.
Betsy Arakawa was found dead in the house of Santa Fe that she shared with her husband, Gene Hackman, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding their death caught the attention of the nation for weeks
An employee in Grand Canyon National Park (depicted here) was exposed to Hantavirus, revealed area officers in the area
In order to reduce the risk of exposure, health officials recommend broadcasting spaces where MICE droppings can be, avoid sweeping droppings, use disinfectants and wipe rubble up and wear gloves and a mask.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are found worldwide Spread to people when they aerosolized faecal matter, urine or saliva of infected rodents inhale.
The disease was first identified in South Korea in 1978 when researchers isolated it from a field mouse. However, it only affects around 40 to 50 Americans every year, usually in the southwest.
864 cases were confirmed between 1993 and 2022, according to the latest available CDC data.
There are around 150,000 to 200,000 cases a year worldwide, most of which are in China.
The rarity of Hantavirus in the US is partly because the country has fewer rodent species that can circulate the disease, compared to Asia and Europe, where several rodent species act as hosts.
In the US, deer mice are the most common carriers.
David Quammen, a science writer whose book predicted the COVID-19 Pandemie, previously told DailyMail.com to an increase in cases of Hantaviruses, could have worldwide implications.
He said, “[Hantaviruses] Were originally known from Korea, and then they arrived in the Four Corners area of the US in 1992 and they started killing people.
“It was not surprising to find Hantaviruses in the US, as well as in Korea because it is again, it is a global group of viruses.”
Virginia Tech researchers recently discovered that although deer mice are still the primary reservoir for Hantaviruses in North America, the virus is now circulating more widely than previously thought, with antibodies detected in six extra rodent species where they had not previously been documented.
Seventy -nine percent of the positive blood samples they tested came from deer mouse species, but Researchers also discovered that other rodent species had a higher percentage of Hantavirus infections than deer mice – between 4.3 and five percent.
The vast majority of human cases are reduced to two or three important deer mouse species, but those of the study Findings reveal that the virus is more flexible than scientists ever thought, so that what they know about their basic biology.
Deer mice, depicted here, are the most common wearers of Hantavirus in the US
Virginia had the highest rate of infection among rodents, in which almost eight percent of the samples tested positively for Hantavirus – four times the national average of approximately two percent.
Colorado had the second highest rate of infection, followed by Texas, both known risk guards for the virus, with average positive blood samples more than twice as high as the national average.
Hantavirus symptoms usually appear within one to eight weeks after exposure to infected rodents and include fatigue, fever, muscle pain, headache, dizziness, chills and abdominal or digestive problems.
After four to 10 days of early symptoms, patients can experience a shortness of breath, the boral and liquid in the lungs.
There is no specific treatment for Hantavirus and patients receive supporting therapies such as resting, hydration and respiratory support.
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