From nrboone@roadrunner.com Tue Jun 15 22:42:03 1999 Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 17:06:14 -0600 (MDT) From: Nathan/Rachna Boone To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: More follow-up on rodents and hantavirus Dear Sanet, A fellow saneter emailed me and said that wild deer mice were not the only carriers of the hantavirus. A web search revealed the following information from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/textonly2/publicp1.htm Here are the rodents that carry the types of hantavirus that cause HPS in the United States: The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a deceptively cute animal, with big eyes and big ears. Its head and body are normally about 2 - 3 inches long, and the tail adds another 2 - 3 inches in length. You may see it in a variety of colors, from gray to reddish brown, depending on its age. The underbelly is always white and the tail has sharply defined white sides. The deer mouse is found almost everywhere in North America. Usually, the deer mouse likes woodlands, but also turns up in desert areas. The cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), which you'll find in the southeastern United States (and way down into Central and South America), has a bigger body than the deer mouse-head and body about 5 - 7 inches, and another 3 - 4 inches for the tail. The hair is longer and coarser, of a grayish brown color, even grayish black. The cotton rat prefers overgrown areas with shrubs and tall grasses. The rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is slightly smaller than the cotton rat, having a head and body 5 - 6 inches long, plus a very long, 4- to 7-inch tail. Rice rats sport short, soft, grayish brown fur on top, and gray or tawny underbellies. Their feet are whitish. As you might expect from the name, this rat likes marshy areas and is semiaquatic. It's found in the Southeastern United States and into Central America. The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is hard to distinguish fom the deer mouse. The head and body together are about four inches long. You should note that its tail is normally shorter than its body (about 2 - 4 inches long). Topside, its fur ranges from pale brown to reddish brown, while its underside and feet are white. The white-footed mouse is found through southern New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states, the Midwest and into the western states and Mexico. It prefers wooded and brushy areas, although sometimes it will live in more open ground. Sometimes, the "country mouse" becomes a "city mouse" Both the deer mouse and the cotton rat are usually in rural areas, but can also be found in cities when conditions are right, such as easy availability of food, water and shelter. Other rodents may also carry hantavirus It appears that other rodents carrying strains of hantavirus that cause HPS are yet to be identified. In addition, yet other rodent species play host to other types of hantaviruses that cause a different type of infection, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, or HFRS. It is wise, therefore, to avoid close contact with rodents in general. ---end Nathan Boone Agricultural Consultant 200-B Callecita Place Santa Fe, NM 87501 Tel: 505.992.0649 Fax: 508.302.7761 Email: nrboone@roadrunner.com To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From mgs23@pacbell.net Tue Aug 3 17:37:38 1999 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 16:42:11 -0700 From: Misha To: SANET-mg Subject: Hantavirus, II Howdy, all-- I am posting these hantavirus items in part because of the prevalence of mice, including deer mice, on many farms. Something to be aware of. I'm curious as to whether, with shifts in weather patterns and migrating droughts, the risk of such viruses might increase for those of us *not* in the U.S. Southwest. peace misha ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HANTAVIRUS PULMONARY SYNDROME - USA (ARIZONA) (02) ************************************************** A ProMED-mail post Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 23:20:17 -0400 From: Marjorie P. Pollack Source: The Arizona Republic A Coconino County man is being treated in a New Mexico hospital for a hantavirus infection, the third recognized case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) reported in Arizona this year. The 43-year-old man arrived at the hospital Wednesday. He was in serious but improving condition, according to hospital spokesman Greg Johnston. The man is the second Coconino County resident to contract [Sin Nombre virus] this year. The other man, a Parks resident, recovered. The third Arizona victim was an Apache County woman who died of the disease. University Hospital has developed an expertise in treating hantavirus cases, an often deadly respiratory illness that most often occurs in the Southwest. "The hospital has treated more hantavirus patients than any other hospital in the country," Johnston said. The hospital has used an experimental treatment called ECMO [extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation] for many patients, but the last 4 patients have not needed the procedure, he said. ECMO is typically used for babies with respiratory problems. A machine circulates and adds oxygen to a person's blood, doing what the heart and lungs may be too crippled to handle. The hospital has treated 11 hantavirus patients this year - 7 from New Mexico, 3 from Arizona and one from Colorado. In all, there have been 14 cases of hantavirus this year in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. - -- ProMED-mail [Make that 15 cases; there was another last week in the Durango, Colorado, area, very near our study site. We are seeing many more deer mice than we have ever seen there and, along with high prevalence of antibody to Sin Nombre virus, this makes for a potentially dangerous situation. Two of the recent cases have been quite mild and have not been classified as being HPS but "hantavirus infections". - Mod CHC] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michele Gale-Sinex Communications manager Center for Integrated Ag Systems, UW-Madison http://www.wisc.edu UW voice mail: 608-262-8018 Home office: 415-504-6474 (504-MISH) Home office fax: Same as above, phone first for enabling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you knew what life was worth, you would look for yours on earth. And now you see the light--you stand up for your rights. --Bob Marley, Peter Tosh To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From mgs23@pacbell.net Tue Aug 3 17:38:22 1999 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 16:35:48 -0700 From: Misha To: SANET-mg Subject: Hantavirus mortality/Manitoba Howdy, all-- Thought this might interest some of you. peace mish ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HANTAVIRUS PULMONARY SYNDROME - CANADA (MANITOBA) ************************************************** A ProMED-mail post Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 01:42:51 -0400 From: "Marjorie P. Pollack" Source: The Western Producer 22 Jul 1999 [edited] http://www.producer.com/articles/19990722/news/19990722news04.html Manitoba woman dies from hantavirus - ------------------------------- Hantavirus, a rare illness spread by deer mice, has claimed its first Manitoba victim. After five days of flu-like symptoms, a 27-year-old woman from southwestern Manitoba checked into the Brandon General Hospital on 5 Jul 1999. She had difficulty breathing. Within 6 hours, she died. Hantavirus was confirmed as the cause of her death on 9 Jul 1999. Susan Roberecki, acting chief medical officer of health for Manitoba, said she does not yet know how the woman contracted the disease. The department will spend the next couple of weeks tracing the woman's activities to find out where and how she may have come into contact with the disease. They will trap mice in the area to see whether they carry hantavirus. Elise Weiss, medical officer of health for Brandon, said the woman's family and friends so far do not appear to have any symptoms of the disease. Roberecki said hantavirus is not contagious, and cannot be spread from pets to livestock. "It's not a panic situation," said Roberecki. "This has been around for a long time. This is a rare disease." However, she said people who live or work in places where there are mice should be careful and wear protective clothing and masks when cleaning up rodent urine, feces or nests. People who develop flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches and shortness of breath within 6 weeks of being exposed to mice droppings may want to see a doctor. Hantavirus infection was first identified in the southern United States in 1993. Since 1994, 32 cases have been confirmed in Canada. Twelve of those people died. Most of the cases have been in Alberta. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michele Gale-Sinex Communications manager Center for Integrated Ag Systems, UW-Madison http://www.wisc.edu UW voice mail: 608-262-8018 Home office: 415-504-6474 (504-MISH) Home office fax: Same as above, phone first for enabling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you knew what life was worth, you would look for yours on earth. And now you see the light--you stand up for your rights. --Bob Marley, Peter Tosh To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail