Fri Aug 31, 2012, 09:55 PM
Fire Walk With Me (37,506 posts)
10,000 EXPOSED TO KILLER VIRUSLast edited Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:35 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2)
Source: express.co.uk
Up to 10,000 people who stayed in lodging cabins at Yosemite National Park may have been exposed to a deadly mouse-borne virus that has killed two people. Park concessionaire Delaware North sent letters and emails this week to nearly 3,000 people who reserved the insulated Signature cabins between June and August, warning them that they might have been exposed. The cabins hold up to four people and park spokesman Scott Gediman said Friday that could mean up to 7,000 more visitors might have been exposed to the virus that so far has killed two people and made four others ill. Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/343368/10-000-exposed-to-killer-virus (More at the link. Misleading headline but LBN forces the direct and literal use...I would have posted "3000 poss. exposed", and wouldn't have used all caps. PS: Hantavirus.) Reuters: Two men died from the rare lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and four other people survived the rodent-borne illness. Most of the victims are believed to have contracted the virus while staying in tent-style cabins this summer in a popular camping area called Curry Village. Park officials earlier this week shut down 91 insulated tent-cabins after finding deer mice, which carry the disease and can burrow through pencil-sized holes, nesting between the double walls of the structures. Park authorities have notified 2,900 parties of visitors who rented the tent cabins from June through August that they may have been exposed to hantavirus. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/31/uk-usa-hantavirus-yosemite-idUSLNE87U00E20120831?feedType=RSS&
|
29 replies, 4477 views
| Author | Time | Post | |
| Fire Walk With Me | Aug 2012 | OP | |
| darkangel218 | Aug 2012 | #1 | |
| tjdee | Aug 2012 | #2 | |
| BlueToTheBone | Aug 2012 | #4 | |
| Iliyah | Aug 2012 | #3 | |
| Cooley Hurd | Aug 2012 | #5 | |
| darkangel218 | Aug 2012 | #6 | |
| Hissyspit | Aug 2012 | #16 | |
| CountAllVotes | Aug 2012 | #7 | |
| Iliyah | Aug 2012 | #8 | |
| DhhD | Aug 2012 | #9 | |
| Mz Pip | Aug 2012 | #10 | |
| Duer 157099 | Sep 2012 | #21 | |
| Trillo | Aug 2012 | #11 | |
| pscot | Aug 2012 | #12 | |
| Fire Walk With Me | Aug 2012 | #13 | |
| highplainsdem | Aug 2012 | #14 | |
| dipsydoodle | Sep 2012 | #22 | |
| Hissyspit | Aug 2012 | #15 | |
| pscot | Aug 2012 | #18 | |
| CreekDog | Sep 2012 | #19 | |
| kestrel91316 | Aug 2012 | #17 | |
| CreekDog | Sep 2012 | #20 | |
| kestrel91316 | Sep 2012 | #24 | |
| proverbialwisdom | Sep 2012 | #27 | |
| byeya | Sep 2012 | #23 | |
| kestrel91316 | Sep 2012 | #26 | |
| tabasco | Sep 2012 | #25 | |
| johnd83 | Sep 2012 | #28 | |
| tufnel | Sep 2012 | #29 |
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 09:57 PM
darkangel218 (4,924 posts)
1. whats the name of the virus? i cant open the link from my cell n/t
Response to darkangel218 (Reply #1)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 09:59 PM
tjdee (18,042 posts)
2. Hantavirus, per the CDC.nt
Response to darkangel218 (Reply #1)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:01 PM
BlueToTheBone (2,476 posts)
4. Hantavirus. n/t
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:01 PM
Iliyah (2,504 posts)
3. What are the effing symptoms?????
|
Do tell!
|
Response to Iliyah (Reply #3)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:02 PM
Cooley Hurd (21,005 posts)
5. Urges to post on internet message boards...
|
|
Response to Iliyah (Reply #3)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Response to Iliyah (Reply #3)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 11:06 PM
Hissyspit (40,401 posts)
16. Flu-like symptoms, aching, sore throat, dizziness.
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:07 PM
CountAllVotes (11,923 posts)
7. Yikes!!!!
|
>> The 91 insulated canvas cabins in the century-old Curry Village are new to the park, built in 2009 to replace some that had been closed or damaged after parts of Curry Village, which sits below the 3,000ft Glacier Point promontory, were determined to be in a rock-fall hazard zone. Park staff found evidence of mouse nests in the insulation while taking them apart for cleaning.
This one time part of Curry Village is where the poor folk tourists would stay. It was not much fun so you'd hopefully be able to get out of "housekeeping" as it was called and be able to afford to stay in one of the cabins there. It was so great at one time and now this! |
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:13 PM
Iliyah (2,504 posts)
8. WOW, we got west nile and now this??????
|
As a child I use to go to Yosemite every summer with my parents. Just WOW.
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:13 PM
DhhD (769 posts)
9. The virus in found in the mouse droppings in the dust, dirt and bedding of mice usually in a barn.
|
It is not in hay that is used in a barn under livestock but over in a corner where a mouse would live and sleep. People have gotten the virus from cleaning out an old barn too throughly. Perhaps the virus does not effect cats, owls and snakes, etc.
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:19 PM
Mz Pip (23,886 posts)
10. I stayed there years ago
|
back when I didn't need to get up in the middle of the night to trek across the grounds in the dark to the potty.
So what has changed from way back when to now? There must have been mice around then. We were there in February and stayed at Yosemite Lodge. We took the shuttle to get from place to place and it went by the tent cabins. They looked pretty much the smae as they did when we stayed there in the 80s. Really saddened by this. I love Yosemite and love spending a few days there each year. I hope this doesn't end up shutting the whole place down. |
Response to Mz Pip (Reply #10)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 04:19 AM
Duer 157099 (16,629 posts)
21. I think they redesigned some of the tent cabins
|
to improve insulation, they added a second layer which allowed for a gap where the mice made their nests.
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:20 PM
Trillo (7,242 posts)
11. Did the letters or communications offer to pay for medical testing? NT
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:27 PM
pscot (14,149 posts)
12. Get a grip, folks. This is the Express
|
Fear mongering to sell tabloid papers. Hanta virus has been around for a while.
|
Response to pscot (Reply #12)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:35 PM
Fire Walk With Me (37,506 posts)
13. Yes, definitely a "SHOCKING" headline not based upon specific fact or immediate issue.
|
However, I believe a time frame for possible exposure has been determined and this is correct.
Reuters: Two men died from the rare lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and four other people survived the rodent-borne illness. Most of the victims are believed to have contracted the virus while staying in tent-style cabins this summer in a popular camping area called Curry Village. Park officials earlier this week shut down 91 insulated tent-cabins after finding deer mice, which carry the disease and can burrow through pencil-sized holes, nesting between the double walls of the structures. Park authorities have notified 2,900 parties of visitors who rented the tent cabins from June through August that they may have been exposed to hantavirus. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/31/uk-usa-hantavirus-yosemite-idUSLNE87U00E20120831?feedType=RSS& |
Response to pscot (Reply #12)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 10:53 PM
highplainsdem (11,110 posts)
14. The BBC's story also uses that 10,000 figure in the headline:
|
Deadly Yosemite virus warning to 10,000 US campers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19447160 |
Response to pscot (Reply #12)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 05:15 AM
dipsydoodle (33,156 posts)
22. Origin of the news was U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
|
Our UK Daily Express simply reported it as did others. Confirmed here : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/31/yosemite-virus-hantavirus-cdc-risk_n_1847847.html
Yes - it has indeed been a round for 100's maybe even 1000's of years and in the past caused whole tribes of your native population to up and move. Its only its designation etc which is from modern history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus |
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 11:01 PM
Hissyspit (40,401 posts)
15. The first major breakout in the U.S was in 1993 when six died on a Navajo Reservation.
|
Last edited Fri Aug 31, 2012, 11:05 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2) I think there was another breakout in 1998?
A third of the 587 cases since 1993 have been fatal. People just need to educate themselves and protect themselves. Avoid contact with rodent droppings. Pour bleach over them if you come into contact with them. VIDEO here: http://finance.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/california-s-dept-of-public-health-proceed-with-camping-plans-despite-hantavirus-outbreak-30460267.html California's Dept. of Public Health: Proceed With Camping Plans Despite Hantavirus Outbreak 19 hours ago - KOVR Sacramento 3:41 | 29,173 views The state's Public Health Department says we should continue with our plans this holiday weekend even if they include camping at Yosemite National Park. |
Response to Hissyspit (Reply #15)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 11:51 PM
pscot (14,149 posts)
18. Another Hanta virus victim
(Man pouring bleach over rodent droppings.) |
Response to Hissyspit (Reply #15)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:26 AM
CreekDog (37,344 posts)
19. I worked out there right after that and we had a specific procedure for droppings
|
even the mousetraps were different than most people have seen.
and the cleanup prior to letting us all back into areas contaminated was extensive and substantial. |
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 11:29 PM
kestrel91316 (45,676 posts)
17. Well, most of those people, if they haven't caught it by now, NEVER WILL.
|
Needlessly melodramatic "news".
|
Response to kestrel91316 (Reply #17)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 AM
CreekDog (37,344 posts)
20. hantavirus is generally fatal
|
the idea that so many were exposed is a really *big* deal.
because people may have gotten sick afterwards, the cause may not be known to them or their doctors. |
Response to CreekDog (Reply #20)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 12:31 PM
kestrel91316 (45,676 posts)
24. No, it's not "generally fatal". Diagnosed cases do have a high mortality - about 1 in 3.
|
Last edited Sat Sep 1, 2012, 12:38 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1) But IIRC lots of people have antibodies to it, meaning they got exposed at some point, but never got sick enough to warrant medical attention.
It's the severe manifestation known as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome that is scary, but there have only ever been about 500 cases in the US since it was discovered about 20 years ago. |
Response to kestrel91316 (Reply #24)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 12:52 PM
proverbialwisdom (1,712 posts)
27. +1
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 08:21 AM
byeya (2,227 posts)
23. Hantavirus is probably nationwide. Two hikers in Shenandoah NP 10 years ago dies after
|
sleeping in a trail shelter.
Each year, or nearly every year, a person or two dies on the Navajo reservation. \The virus is in the mouse feces and if you are near the feces in a poorly ventilated room. or tent, or hogan, you can be infected. If you must clean out an area that smells of mice, wear a germ proof mask and make sure the area is as ventilated as possible. |
Response to byeya (Reply #23)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 12:39 PM
kestrel91316 (45,676 posts)
26. And you must NEVER EVER sweep up dry rodent feces - this makes the virus airborne.
|
Rodent feces should ALWAYS be wetted with disinfectant before cleaning up!
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 12:36 PM
tabasco (18,325 posts)
25. I hate fucking mice
|
I put mousetraps in the bottom of 8" plastic flowerpots in the woodline around my house to keep them from getting into the house. It works pretty well. The drain holes in the bottom of the pots are just big enough for a mouse to get in. Flat paving stone on top of flower pot. Tiny piece of dog biscuit for bait.
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 01:51 PM
johnd83 (351 posts)
28. Hantavirus is no joke
|
It is actually important to tell people they were exposed so if they get sick they will get treatment ASAP rather than assuming it is just a cold or flu.
|
Response to Fire Walk With Me (Original post)
Sat Sep 1, 2012, 02:20 PM
tufnel (95 posts)
29. Alerting some friends
|
Wow, two friends visited Yosemite in June. Letting them know about this, thanks.
|

