I have no idea if this is Truth or BS

[crystalhunting]

Have any of you in S.California heard of this?

Southern California announced that a form of the deadly hantavirus had been found in deer mice near homes and industrial areas in San Diego and Orange counties. The first U.S. cases of the virus, which causes hanta pulmonary syndrome, were identified in 1993 in the Four Corners area of the Southwest and killed nearly three dozen people. Symptoms of the virus, which is transmitted to humans by exposure to rodent urine, droppings and saliva, appear one to five weeks after contact. Once the symptoms of fever, shortness of breath and coughing develop, the disease progresses rapidly. Victims require immediate hospitalization, usually accompanied by the use of a ventilator within 24 hours.


CH

 

[Valdimer]

Wow, hope it doesnt spred to the mitten........grabs oxegen mask.......

 

[cymbidia]

The most recent news i can find relating to hantavirus in SD county is from June 2000.

Where'd your info come from?

 

[crystalhunting]

Cymbidia...

A gal I know in S.California sent this to me earlier today,half of what she sends is BS....the other half is usually about right as far as information is concerned,Thats why I am asking you'll.




CH

 

[cymbidia]

Ah, well... there was an outbreak of hantavirus in San Diego county that affected deer mice in the mid-90's. It rec'd a lot of press, lot of attention, lot of scrutiny at the time. However, i think it's died back to non-alarming levels now. As i mentioned previously, the lastest info i can find on it comes from the U of C, Davis (my alma mater) and is dated June 2000 (http://mosqnet.ucdavis.edu/mvcac/Docs/VECTOR0600.pdf). Nothing at all, anywhere, since then. I think it's safe to go hiking now - unless it's too hot. ~s~

 

[KillerMuffin]

Reuters has nothing to say on it and they update frequently.

 

[Desert Amazon]

 

[Bigdog]

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall a hantavirus fatality last spring or summer in the lower Central Valley of CA. I want to say it was near Fresno. If memory serves me correct, the person had worked in a hay barn several weeks before becoming ill. I don't have any articles to say one way or another, it just sticks in my head because I live in Sacramento and where I work is surrounded by fields full of mice.

EDIT: I was close, it was May 2000 when a Woodland man who hauled hay up and down CA died from the virus.

 

[cymbidia]

http://www.health.state.ok.us/program/hpromo/medj/hanta.html

"Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a condition of rapidly progressive pulmonary failure with a case-fatality rate of almost 50%. Rodents serve as the reservoir for hantaviruses and human infection occurs primarily via aerosolized virus in rodent excreta."

This means that if you breathe in the dustified (for lack of a better word - right now my brain is swimming in cognac) poop of infected rodents, you could contract hantavirus, a nasty disease. indeed, and often very quickly lethal.

However, there seems to be no cause for alarm in the SD/Orange county areas now. No alert has been issued that i can find. Something like a hantavirus outbreak usually pops up all over the news as soon as the warning is issued.

Your friend gave you some old info, Crystalhunting. Maybe she didn't know it was old...



(I'm from the northern SD county area, my family still lives down there, and i'll be there visiting in a month of so. I'd like to know if there's a hantavirus outbreak before i get on the plane to go from here to there.)

 

[Andra_Jenny]

I remember that story or issue...

about 5 to 7 years ago, but I go to a lot of news sites (we turned off the TV) and have seen nothing at all recently. I think someone just has hold of an old story trying to gain a new urban myth status...


but I could be wrong...

 

[Barb Dwyer]

CH, I can't find anything about any recent alerts either, but if you wish to keep regular tabs on this, you can find out at the Centers for Disease Control website - which also provides links to state health department offices that may have more up-to-the-minute data.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/transmit.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/caseinfo.htm

I just checked the California Department of Health Services and see nothing there about hantavirus. But here is the link for it anyway.

http://www.dhs.cahwnet.gov/home/warnings/index.htm (California )