Subscriber Comments for
Local expert and campers weigh in on Hantavirus.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 314876	2012-09-01 08:31 AM
Now would be a good time to go to Yosemite. Because the neurotic folks will not go there. The statistics are very clear: since 1993 the virus has been identified in 60 people in CA. 60. of those about 1/3 have died from this. So maybe 20 people. Annually i believe the flu kills 30+thousand people. There is nothing to worry about people.
COMMENT 314911P	2012-09-01 10:19 AM
Strange that they would say that it is not in SB County when it is known to be on the Channel Islands. Curious, I just checked and found this information. Just to be safe, everyone should stay inside when they're not transiting to and from their vehicles.
ROGER DODGER	2012-09-01 10:50 AM
I have a bunch of mice in my house I'm going to get rid off I stink it's normal to worry.
COMMENT 314920	2012-09-01 10:56 AM
First, the science lesson: Hantavirus is a VIRUS. It can cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome HPS in humans. A quick Google search will provide a lot of information, particularly from the CA Dept of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control. The virus is said to be found in every county of the State. Confirmed CASES of HPS are few and far between, none in the county in over 10 years. The CDC site provides excellent information on how to prevent HPS. A National Park Service Public Health task force has been dispatched to Yosemite to investigate. They have very stringent guidelines on prevention but clearly, they are going to have to make some changes. Build a better mousetrap, so to speak.
COMMENT 314932P	2012-09-01 11:59 AM
Few people know that the majority of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department SWAT team were taken down by the Hanta Virus about a decade ago. They were housed in an old building at the Camarillo airport, and a remodel stirred up decades of mouse crap, and almost all of them got it. One flat lined at the hospital and was brought back. A UC researcher died of it after cleaning out a remote cabin. It is nasty stuff. There is a reason the human race declared war on rodents thousands of years ago. This is just one more reason to eradicate rodents where humans live.
COMMENT 315049	2012-09-01 07:22 PM
Yes, the common carrier is the deer mouse but it is also in our local voles. It is uncommon mostly because most people are not exposed to airborne fecal and urine dust belonging to only a few species of rodents. It is generally not carried by the house mouse or Norway rat, which are common in cities. Hantavirus is most commonly acquired in more remote areas where these species live.

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