Yosemite to 1.7K Visitors: You Might Have Hantavirus

Warning goes out after second death
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2012 3:23 PM CDT
Yosemite to 1.7K Visitors: You Might Have Hantavirus
This undated Street View image provided by Google shows Inspiration Point at Yosemite National Park in California.   (AP Photo/Google)

Following a second death from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Yosemite National Park officials are warning 1,700 summer visitors that they, too, could have contracted the rodent-borne disease. Those in danger came to the park between June and August and stayed in the "Signature Tent Cabins" in the park's Curry Village, the AP reports. If the visitors experience symptoms of the disease—including fever, chills, aches, and dizziness—they're instructed to get immediate medical help.

But with thousands of visitors per month, the park says it's not possible to contact everyone who entered Curry Village. Officials are working to limit the danger to future guests. "There are rodents and some are infected and that's what happens," says a rep. "This is a wilderness setting. It has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the cabins." Two others known to have contracted the disease are expected to survive. (More Yosemite National Park stories.)

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