Hantavirus

What is hantavirus?

Hantavirus is a rare disease caused by a virus.

Where is hantavirus found? How are people exposed?

Hantavirus can be found in the urine, dropping and saliva of infected rodents.

People are exposed to the virus when they inhale dust after cleaning up droppings or disturbing a nest. Once inhaled, the virus can cause an infectious respiratory illness called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS.

What are the symptoms of hantavirus?

The initial symptoms of hantavirus include:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Muscle aches, especially in the back, hips and shoulder
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Chills
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain

These symptoms can occur between one and five weeks after exposure to the virus.

Additional symptoms may also include:

• Coughing
• Shortness of breath, with a feeling of tightness around the chest.

These symptoms may appear approximately four to ten days after the onset of initial symptoms

How is hantavirus spread?

The types of hantavirus that cause illness in the United States, cannot be transmitted from one person to another. In the United States, wild rodents—especially deer mice—carry the hantavirus. Rodents shed the virus in their urine, droppings, and saliva. The common house mouse does not carry the hantavirus. There are several ways rodents may spread hantavirus to people:

• The most common way (to date) that the virus is spread to humans is by breathing in air contaminated with infected rodent droppings or urine.
• If a rodent with the virus bites someone, the virus may be spread to that person-but this type of transmission is rare.
• Researchers believe that people may be able to get the virus if they touch something that has been contaminated with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, and then touch their nose or mouth.

The hantaviruses that cause illness in the United States are not known to be transmitted by any types of animals other than certain species of rodents. You cannot get hantavirus from farm animals, or from insects. Dogs and cats are not known to carry hantavirus; however, they may bring infected rodents into contact with people if they catch such animals and carry them home. Guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, and rodents from pet stores are not known to carry hantavirus. 

How can I keep from getting hantavirus?

The best way to prevent the spread of hantavirus is to make sure that your home and workplace are unattractive to rodents. The Centers for Disease Control recommends:

• Keep your house clean, especially the kitchen

• Keep tight fitting lids on garbage and discard uneaten pet food each night

• Set and keep spring loaded rodent traps. Set these traps close to the baseboards because rodents tend to run along walls rather than out in the open

• Seal all entry holes ¼ inch or wider

• Clear brush grass and junk from around house foundations to eliminate nesting material

If I’ve been exposed to hantavirus, how long will it take for symptoms to develop? 

The initial symptoms of hantavirus can occur between one and five weeks after exposure.

What treatments are available for hantavirus? How serious is the disease?

There is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccine for hantavirus infection. If infected individuals are recognized early and receive medical care in an intensive care unit, they may do better.

Hantavirus can be very serious. Forty to 50 percent of people with the disease die. In survivors, recovery is rapid, but full recovery may take weeks or months. Lung abnormalities may linger in some individuals.  

How many cases of hantavirus have been reported in Kentucky?

The disease has never been confirmed in Kentucky.

Where can I get more information on hantavirus?

For more information online, you can visit the Centers for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/index.htm.  

Or, for more information on the Health Department’s programs, please call 859.341.4264.