|
| Archive Number |
20020718.4794 |
| Published Date |
18-JUL-2002 |
| Subject |
PRO/AH/EDR> Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome update 2002 - USA (02) |
HANTAVIRUS PULMONARY SYNDROME UPDATE 2002 - USA (02)
**************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
In these updates:
[1] & [2] Wyoming
[3] Nebraska
******
[1]
Date: Sat 13 Jul 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Newsday.com, Associated Press report, Sat 13 Jul 2002 [edited]
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-hantavirus-death0714jul13.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnation%2Dheadlines>
Wyoming: Woman Dies From Hantavirus Infection
---------------------------------------------
CHEYENNE: A blood sample from a 20-year-old woman who died last week has
tested positive for the rare, rodent-borne hantavirus, officials said on
Sat 13 Jul 2002. A second sample will be sent to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta early this week for confirmation, said
Scott Seys, deputy state epidemiologist. State and Natrona County health
officials were treating the case as confirmed hantavirus and had begun
investigating possible points of exposure.
This would be the third known human case in Wyoming of hantavirus
infection, which is contracted by breathing dust or eating food
contaminated by the dried urine, feces, or saliva of rodents. Symptoms
include fever, aches, difficulty breathing, and flu-like symptoms; death
occurs in 37 percent of cases. Hantavirus infection was first diagnosed in
the United States in 1993 in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, when
33 people were infected and 17 died. The disease has since been found in 31
states. In recent months, hantavirus cases have been identified in
Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado and Utah.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2]
Date: Sun 14 Jul 2002
From: Richard W. Wilsnack, Ph.D. <rwilsnac@medicine.nodak.edu>
Source: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, online edition, Sun 14 Jul 2002 [edited]
Wyoming: Early Test Results Confirm Hantavirus Diagnosis
--------------------------------------------------------
CHEYENNE: A 20-year-old Casper woman may have died from a rare rodent-borne
disease, health department officials say. If preliminary tests were
correct, it would be the third case of hantavirus in the state's history.
Both previous cases were fatal.
The Wyoming Department of Health in Cheyenne received word Saturday from
the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota that initial tests indicate the disease is to
blame for the 8 Jul 2002 death at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. Early
next week a second sample will be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation, and results are
expected about a week later. "At this point we're treating it as a positive
for the same reason we sent it to Mayo," deputy state epidemiologist Scott
Seys said in a prepared statement. "Clinically, it looked like hantavirus
infection. The symptoms fit the classic presentation."
The disease cannot be spread from one person to another, but other people
exposed to the [virus] could be contaminated too. Natrona County Health
officials are investigating where the woman may have come in contact with
hantavirus. She was helping friends remodel a house, and Casper-Natrona
County Health Department spokesman Marty Thone said that is the likely
source of infection. "That was just one thing she was doing, but it will be
part of our investigation," Thone said, adding that the investigation
should take about 5 days. The woman first became sick on 5 or 6 Jul 2002,
was admitted to the hospital soon after and died before tests for
hantavirus were completed, Thone said. "It was very, very quick," he said.
"And that's typical for hantavirus."
No other potential cases have been reported in Casper or the state, but
health officials are still encouraging people to be on alert for the
disease. "What we're recommending if you work in an area or are going into
an area where there might be rodent droppings is wear a mask, a simple
woodworker's mask will do. It's a pretty simple way to protect yourself,"
Thone said. Seys said it often takes 2 to 3 weeks for symptoms to appear,
although it's been known to take up to 6 weeks, and once symptoms appear, a
person can die within 24 hours. Mice and rats spread the disease through
their urine, feces, and saliva. [Different hantaviruses are carried by
specific rodent hosts. The hantavirus probably responsible for this case is
_Sin Nombre virus_, which is associated predominantly with the deer mouse
_Peromyscus maniculatus_. - Mod.CP]. It is estimated that 8 percent of
Wyoming's rodents may be infected with the virus, which cannot be spread
via insects, livestock or pets.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrom has been found in 31 states, including
Wyoming, with deaths in Freemont County in 1993 and Lincoln County in 1999.
This year, more cases of the virus have been found across the nation,
particularly in states bordering Wyoming. Hantavirus has been found in
Colorado, Western Nebraska, Idaho, and Utah in recent weeks, and health
officials have said the entire Cowboy State is susceptible to infection.
Seys said drought conditions in the West could be causing the rodent
excrement to dry out and become airborne more easily. A mild winter has
been blamed for an increase in both rodent and insect populations that
normally are reduced during long spans of below-freezing temperatures.
[Byline: Joanne Bowlby]
--
Richard W. Wilsnack, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience
University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9037
<rwilsnac@medicine.nodak.edu>
******
[3]
Date: Wed 17 Jul 2002
From: Dennis Leschinsky <dennis.leschinsky@hhss.state.ne.us>
Source: Omaha World Herald online, Wed 17 Jul 2002 [edited]
<http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=36&u_sid=449595>
Nebraska: Second Case of Hantavirus Pulmonary syndrome
------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska's latest cases of hantavirus occurred within days of one another
last month, but state health officials do not see a connection or believe
that the public is at increased risk of exposure to the often-fatal viral
disorder. "These are not real mystery cases," said Dr. Tom Safranek,
Nebraska's epidemiologist. Both victims spent considerable time outdoors
and in places where there would likely be rodents. The viruses that cause
the disease are found in the droppings or urine of rodents, mostly deer
mice, and can be spread through the air and inhaled. Hantavirus, first
identified after a cluster of cases in the southwest United States in 1993,
is not spread through person-to-person contact. More than 300 cases have
been confirmed nationally, mostly in western states. The Nebraska cases are
either the third and fourth or the second and third cases in the state,
depending on the source of information.
A railroad worker died on 13 Jun 2002 in a Scottsbluff hospital, 2 days
after feeling ill while on the job at a Union Pacific yard. It is possible
he contracted the virus while camping earlier in the month in South Dakota,
but there are rodents around the rail yard in South Morrill as well. The
30-year-old man from Lyman is the first Nebraskan to die from hantavirus,
which has been fatal in 37 percent of all cases.
A 41-year-old male resident of Imperial felt flu-like symptoms on 20 Jun
2002, and was eventually hospitalized in Chase County and transferred for
more intensive care to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. The patient, a
feedlot manager, was sedated and breathing with the help of a ventilator
for several days, but was released from the hospital in fair health on the
morning of Tue 16 Jul 2002.
Tests conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
confirmed that both men had hantavirus. Testing by the CDC is still pending
to confirm that hantavirus caused the death of a woman in Casper, Wyo., on
Monday. Safranek said the timing of these cases, and the fact that 2 of
them took place in western Nebraska, does not suggest any relationship. Any
increased risk for hantavirus will likely be detected by the state through
its routine testing of deer mice, he said. The latest tests show that
between 5 percent and 15 percent of deer mice have the virus, which has
been the norm, he said. "This is a rare disease and it doesn't seem to
cluster."
Union Pacific ordered tests of mice found at its South Morrill rail yard
and at the home of one of the cases, but didn't find any carrying
hantavirus, a spokesman said. The company is nonetheless providing
information about the disease and prevention tips to its workers.
Hantavirus is unusual in metro areas, partly because deer mice are far more
common in rural areas.
A 1999 Nebraska case involved a suburban La Vista resident, although it is
possible he contracted the disease in a rural area. The 25-year-old man was
hospitalized for weeks, but eventually recovered. Lab tests conflicted over
whether he had hantavirus, but Safranek in 2000 said the state was treating
it as the state's second confirmed case. The state's first confirmed case
was in 1998 in Benkelman. The CDC, which had negative tests for the La
Vista man, only lists the state as having one previous case.
[Byline: Jeremy Olson]
--
Dennis Leschinsky
Nebraska Health and Human Services System
Communicable Disease Surveillance
402-471-6450 phone
402-471-3601 fax
<dennis.leschinsky@hhss.state.ne.us>
[Dennis Leschinsky adds the following information: "This second
case-patient is a 41-year-old male farm worker in Chase County (southwest
part of Nebraska - about 175-200 miles from the previous hantavirus
pulmonary syndrome case-patient this summer). He had been repairing bunk
lines at the feedlot he manages. This involved tearing up the concrete bunk
lines with a tractor with a front-end loader. Mice nests were disturbed
while tearing up the old bunk lines. His onset was 18 Jun 2002 and was
hospitalized on 22 Jun 2002 and released on 16 Jul 2002. The patient had a
positive ELISA test at a commercial lab and had confirmatory testing done
at CDC." Since according to the press report 5-15 percent of deer mice in
Nebraska are carrying hantavirus, it is likely that the etiologic agent is
the hantavirus _Sin Nombre virus_. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Arizona) 20020607.4429
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Colorado) 20020605.4411
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Nebraska) 20020702.4650
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Texas) 20020512.4180
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Texas) (02) 20020515.4220
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Utah) 20020505.4105
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Utah) (02) 20020508.4135
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Utah) (03) 20020609.4446
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - USA (Utah) (04) 20020628.4626
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome update 2002 - USA (01) 20020630.4641]
.................................mpp/cp/pg/dk
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