Yosemite National Park visitors could have been exposed to deadly virus

Yosemite National Park visitors could have been exposed to deadly virus
Yosemite National Park visitors could have been exposed to deadly virus

PA



Around 10,000 tourists visiting California's Yosemite National Park could have been exposed to a deadly virus that kills one in three victims and cannot be treated, officials confirmed.

AFP reported that six cases of the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a rare lung disease, have been confirmed leaving two people dead and a 'multiple' number of suspected cases of the virus spread by infected rodent droppings being investigated.

According to the BBC, the National Park says it is receiving about 1,000 calls per day from frightened visitors on its Hantavirus hotline.

There is no known cure for the virus and symptoms can take up to six weeks to show with one in three cases fatal.

Carried in rodent faeces, urine and saliva, the virus can be inhaled by humans when it dries out and is mixed with dust. It can also spread when contaminated substances are touched or people are bitten by an infected animal.

Earlier this week, Yosemite closed down its Signature Tent Cabins at Curry Village, a popular camping area in Yosemite Valley.

The National Park Service (NPS) has written to around 2,900 people who booked stays in the Boystown area tent lodgings between 10 June and 24 August, alerting them to keep an eye out for symptoms of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the number of visitors who stayed in the tent cabins at 10,000.

A spokesman for the CDC said: 'On August 24, 2012, the tents were disinfected and visitors were relocated. People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next six weeks.'

Symptoms include chills, fever, cough, myalgia, headaches and gastrointestinal ailments.

The incubation period for the disease is typically two to four weeks after exposure, with a range of a few days up to six weeks.

'The disease often progresses rapidly to respiratory distress, requiring supplemental oxygen and/or intubation, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema and shock,' the CDC said.

'There is no specific treatment available, but early recognition and administration of supportive care greatly increase the chance of survival.'

HPS was first identified in 1993 and there have been 60 cases in California and 587 cases in the United States with a third of these fatal.

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