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Center For Disease Control
Lots of good info on hantavirus
May 31, 2000
Medical detectives are swinging into action following the death of a woman yesterday at L.D.S. Hospital.
She may be Utah's first fatality from the Hantavirus in nearly four years.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst reports from L.D.S. Hospital.
The cause of death is unconfirmed, and it may be a few days before lab tests are complete.
But all signs point to the deadly Hantavirus.
We haven't heard much about the disease in the last couple of years.
But that doesn't mean the virus went away.
It's around us all the time.
When reserachers first identified Hantavirus a few years ago, they tracked it to rodents, chiefly the lowly deer mouse. In Utah, one deer mouse out of every three carries the virus.
Craig Nichols/State Epidemiologist: "IT DOES NOT KILL THE MICE. AND SO IT KEEPS ALIVE IN THE RODENT POPULATION."
Once in awhile it spreads to a human, usually someone who inhales dust containing mouse droppings.
That may be what happened to 47-year-old Cathleen Dimick of Wellington. She went to the hospital in Price with flu-like symptoms yesterday morning, and was quickly flown by helicopter to Salt Lake City.
Jess Gomez/L.D.S. Hospital: "IN A NEAR SHOCK-LIKE STATE. AND HER BODY WAS ESSENTIALLY SHUTTING DOWN. SO JUST IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME SHE WAS DETERIORATING VERY RAPIDLY."
She died within hours of seeking treatment.
Nationally, about 250 people have had confirmed cases of Hantavirus. 101 of them died.
In Utah 13 cases confirmed, stretching from 1959 to 1998. Four ended in death.
The risk of death is lower with early treatment. But, unfortunately, hantavirus symptoms mimic the flu.
Jess Gomez/LDS Hospital: "SO PEOPLE DELAY SEEKING CARE THINKING THEY HAVE A FLU OR COLD, AND THAT IT WILL GO AWAY. UNFORTUNATELY, AS THE DISEASE PROGRESSES, IT GETS MUCH WORSE. IT CAN BE VERY CRITICAL."
In Utah, the disease has hit mostly in rural Central Utah, although there was one case in Salt Lake County. Deer mice live everywhere from the High Uintahs to the low desert; the key is to avoid them.
Craig Nichols: "PEOPLE JUST DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH EXPSOURE TO DEER MICE. AND IF THEY REDUCE THAT EXPOSURE. THE RISK GOES WAY DOWN."
The most important strategy is to keep rodents out of your house and away from your property. And second, if you're cleaning up afetr them, avoid stiring up dust.
