Every year as the weather got colder, ranch hand Ronnie Dudley would notice more and more rodent nests in the haystacks he used to feed live-stock.
But after a bout last month with hantavirus - an often deadly virus that can cause respiratory illness - Dudley said he will no longer ignore evidence of rodents or handle nests and droppings as he works on a Nevada ranch 25 miles south of Jackpot, Nev.Dudley spent 10 days in the Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls recovering.
The chances of surviving hanta-virus, a disease first reported in the United States after a spring 1993 outbreak in the Southwest, have increased to between 50 percent and 60 percent, said Dr. Jesse Green-blatt, state epidemiologist with the Idaho Bureau of Disease Prevention in Boise. Early treatment has helped save more people infected with the virus, and an increased awareness has prevented its spread.
Wild rodents, such as mice, are the main carriers of hantavirus, which is spread through the urine, saliva, droppings and nesting materials of infected rodents. People can get hantavirus by handling rodent debris or by inhaling stirred-up particles.
Symptoms include high fever, muscle aches, cough and headache followed by respiratory distress.