Here's The Virus That People Are Catching From Their Pet Rats

Hantavirus has a variety of mice and rats as its host. Although the animals may be asymptomatic, they still shed the virus in their secretions—urine, droppings, and saliva. First, someone needs to think of the disease, which is not likely to happen without a detailed history of exposures. Then diagnosis is made by special blood tests looking for antibodies to infection,

 How hantaviruses infect lung cells

Hantaviruses cause severe and sometimes fatal respiratory infections, but how they infect lung cells has been a mystery. Researchers report that hantaviruses gain entry to lung cells by 'unlocking' a cell-surface receptor called protocadherin-1 (PCDH1). Deleting this receptor made lab animals highly resistant to infection. The findings show that targeting PCDH1 could be a useful strategy against deadly hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Hantavirus: Be Careful, Not Fearful

The virus does not fare well in sunlight, but survives well in dark, musty environments, which may include seldom-used cabins that have not recently been aired out or cleaned.

Rodent Riddles: Why Hantavirus Is So Deadly

It's unlikely you'll catch the hantavirus from drinking soda from a can or riding the New York subway, as some urban myths warn. But the deadly virus can still crop up in some innocent-seeming places. Breathing in airborne excrement from some types of rats and mice—often unknowingly swept into the air by people cleaning out remote cabins or camping in the mountains—can cause infection from hantavirus. That, in turn, can lead to a rare but serious illness called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS.

What Animals Are Most Likely To Make You Sick?

Despite hantavirus in Yosemite, the barnyard is more dangerous than the national park.

Dying Trees Make Way for Mice With Deadly Disease

The deer mouse Peromyscus maniculatus looks ironically cute in pictures at meeting presentations, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks it as the main rodent reservoir for sin nombre virus. Infected deer mice don't show many symptoms, but people inhaling virus wafting from mouse urine or saliva can get quite sick with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Hantavirus Information: All About This Mouse-Borne Virus!

Hantaviruses that cause HPS are carried by rodents, especially the deer mouse. You can become infected by exposure to their droppings, and the flu-like first signs of sickness (especially fever and muscle aches) appear one to six weeks later, followed by shortness of breath and coughing. Once this phase begins, the disease progresses rapidly, necessitating hospitalization and often ventilation within 24 hours. Prevention is the best strategy, and it simply means taking some very practical steps to minimize your contact with rodents. HPS is not contagious from person-to-person in the United States

Hantaviruses

In 1978, the etiologic agent of Korean Hemerologic fever was isolated from small infected field rodent Apodemus agrarius near Hantan river in South Korea. The virus was named as Hantaan virus, after the name of the river Hantan. This initial discovery dates back to scientific approaches that were initiated after the Korean war (1951-1953), during which more than 3000 cases of Korean hemorrhagic fever were reported among UN troops.

Here's How Much Mouse Poop The FDA Allows In Your Food

You've probably eaten mouse poop -- and the federal government is just fine with that. It's also fine with mold, rat hairs and insect legs.

How about this disease-infested rat weather we're having?

The rats and mice that populate our sewers, barns, dumps, and alleys carry all kinds of microbes that can sicken people. Our rodent neighbors have been implicated in outbreaks of infections ranging from plague to hantavirus.

Tips on avoiding hantavirus

Any activity that puts people in contact with rodent droppings, urine, saliva, or nesting materials can place you at risk for infection. Hantavirus is spread when virus-containing particles from rodent urine, droppings, or saliva are stirred into the air. It is important to avoid actions that raise dust, such as sweeping or vacuuming. Infection occurs when virus particles are breathed in.

What Caused the Yosemite Hantavirus Outbreak?

With the Yosemite tourists having died from this normally high-altitude illness, we spoke with an infectious disease expert to see if hantavirus could spread to other areas of the country.