The history of the hantavirus reads like a mystery. Forty-one years ago, a man lay near death in a Price, Utah, hospital with a sickness that baffled doctors. News Specialist Jed Boal continues the story.

It was a mystery that went unsolved more than three decades.

The 38-year-old man remained unconscious six days with pneumonia-like symptoms. Doctors said it should have killed him. It turned out to be the oldest case of hantavirus ever discovered.

In July 1959, Terry Spivey was a young man with a growing family, living in Green River.

On a trip to a mountain cabin in Colorado, he came down with a terrible flu-like illness. Within days he passed out, and his father rushed him to the hospital in Price.

Doctors told his parents he wouldn't live. After six unconscious days, he recovered. Spivey's doctors were stunned.

Terry Spivey/Hantavirus Victim: "IT HAD TO BE A MIRACLE. I TOLD THIS GUY IN ALBEQUERQUE HALF THE PEOPLE LIVE ANYWAY. HE SAID 'NOT WHEN THEY'RE AS NEAR DEATH AS YOU WERE, THEY DON'T.'"

Spivey always thought it was bronchitis or the flu.

In the early 90's, when doctors first identified the hantavirus and traced it to dust from deer mice droppings, he realized his illness fit the symptoms.

His blood was tested, and doctors at the Centers for Disease Control told Spivey his case was one of the strongest on record.

Out of 13 confirmed cases in Utah, four hantavirus victims died. A fatality this week shows all the signs.

Terry Spivey: "I IMAGINE IT'S GOING TO BE AROUND FOREVER IF THEY DON'T LEARN TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS."

Spivey is visiting family in Utah this week. At 79, he says his recovery four decades ago still cannot be explained by science.

His parents told him they had a vision the night before he recovered. They told him they heard a deep voice that answered their prayers.

Terry Spivey/Hantavirus Victim: "THE VOICE SAID, 'HE'S GOING TO LIVE.' HE SAID, 'WHAT'D YOU SAY?' 'HE'S GOING TO LIVE.'"

How do you spot the difference between house mice and deer mice?

House mice are darker and one solid color.