Warn of hantavirus at Yosemite

FRESNO, Calif. -- About 1,700 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park this summer were warned yesterday that they may have been exposed to a rodent-borne virus blamed for the deaths of two campers.

Four people who spent time in Signature Tent Cabins at Curry Village around the same time in June have contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, an illness spread by rodent feces, urine and saliva.

One of those who died was from outside California. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the death in the past few days. Two other people infected were expected to survive.

The disease can incubate for up to six weeks before flu-like symptoms develop. It's fatal in 30 percent of all cases, and there is no specific treatment.

"We're getting word out," park spokesman Scott Gediman said. "We're very concerned about visitors and employees, but we feel we are taking proactive steps in both cleaning the affected areas and in public education."

Rangers were handing out brochures about hantavirus to guests as they entered the park. In addition, guests checking into cabins at the family-friendly Curry Village were being told what precautions they should take.

After word of the first death came earlier this month, employees of park concessionaire Delaware North Co. disinfected the 408 canvas-sided and wood-sided cabins in Curry Village. The 91 signature cabins where all four victims stayed were being shored up in an attempt to make them more rodent-proof.

Park officials said none of the victims had anything in common other than staying in Yosemite cabins between June 10 and 20. A 37-year-old man from the San Francisco Bay Area was one of those who died. Details about the others were withheld because of medical privacy laws.

Thousands of people visit the park every month, so it would be impossible to track everyone who had set foot in Curry Village, officials said. Added Gedman: "This is a wilderness setting. It has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the cabins." Of the 587 U.S. cases since the virus was identified in 1993, about one-third proved fatal.