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Dartmouth College employee first case of hantavirus in N.H.
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — A Dartmouth College employee who was vacationing at a cabin near Errol could be the first person in New Hampshire to test positive for hantavirus, a respiratory disease spread by rats.
A blood test turned up a positive result for hantavirus. New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services was waiting for results of additional tests by the Centers for Disease Control before confirming the case.
The man’s name was not released.
"The patient is doing fine," said Dr. Jose Montero, the state department’s chief of communicable diseases. "The patient never developed any one of the most critical pulmonary symptoms of the hantavirus."
Hantavirus is not spread through human contact, but by breathing in particles of infected rodent droppings, saliva or urine. It was first identified in the United States 11 years ago in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, but so far has made few appearances in the Northeast. In 2000, a patient in Vermont tested positive for hantavirus.
Infected people usually display flu-like symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, nausea, chills, vomiting and muscle aches. There is no cure. A severe infection can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can cause respiratory failure and death.
As of July, nearly 140 of 366 people have died of hantavirus since the CDC began tracking it in 1993.
The man said he saw several mice as well as mouse droppings in the cabin and might have touched some droppings on a blanket. A family member staying with him did not show any symptoms.
Upon notice of the positive test, Dartmouth shut down three of 10 cabins it owns on a wilderness known as Second College Grant. Those cabins were being disinfected and others were being inspected for contamination.
State health officials were working with Dartmouth to get in touch with other people who stayed in the cabin. "We are doing an investigation right now finding out who has been at this cabin before and after he was there," Montero said.
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — A Dartmouth College employee who was vacationing at a cabin near Errol could be the first person in New Hampshire to test positive for hantavirus, a respiratory disease spread by rats.
A blood test turned up a positive result for hantavirus. New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services was waiting for results of additional tests by the Centers for Disease Control before confirming the case.
The man’s name was not released.
"The patient is doing fine," said Dr. Jose Montero, the state department’s chief of communicable diseases. "The patient never developed any one of the most critical pulmonary symptoms of the hantavirus."
Hantavirus is not spread through human contact, but by breathing in particles of infected rodent droppings, saliva or urine. It was first identified in the United States 11 years ago in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, but so far has made few appearances in the Northeast. In 2000, a patient in Vermont tested positive for hantavirus.
Infected people usually display flu-like symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, nausea, chills, vomiting and muscle aches. There is no cure. A severe infection can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can cause respiratory failure and death.
As of July, nearly 140 of 366 people have died of hantavirus since the CDC began tracking it in 1993.
The man said he saw several mice as well as mouse droppings in the cabin and might have touched some droppings on a blanket. A family member staying with him did not show any symptoms.
Upon notice of the positive test, Dartmouth shut down three of 10 cabins it owns on a wilderness known as Second College Grant. Those cabins were being disinfected and others were being inspected for contamination.
State health officials were working with Dartmouth to get in touch with other people who stayed in the cabin. "We are doing an investigation right now finding out who has been at this cabin before and after he was there," Montero said.
