Maybe this article has already been posted on the WZ, but I can't find it. Below the article about the Hantavirus I found the following article which makes me want to cry....I love Yosemite....I love staying at Curry Village.
Since it is so rare, I wonder... Is the infection rate very low, or are many people exposed while only a few become seriously affected?
I understand even polio is like that -- only a few are/were hit by the serious effects, while very many showed they had been exposed and had antibodies against the virus.
That poor gentleman I stayed with my parents in Curry Village for a couple nights in June when they visited. So many things to worry about out there that could hurt us. Guess it just wasnt our time yet. I feel for his family.
Now I'm gonna hafta add the hantavirus to my list of things to be neurotic about.
"Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome is a rare but often fatal lung disease that kills about a third of those who get infected. Don Neubacher, Yosemite's superintendent, noted that people typically don't fall ill with hantavirus until between one and six weeks after they are exposed."
SteveC, CaT & I were there several weeks ago, we didn't stay in the hantavillage, but did enjoy a hantapizza at Curry.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Park officials are now stating that as many as 1700 Yosemite visitors may have been exposed to Hantavirus. Details here.
"The rustic tent cabins of Yosemite National Park — a favorite among families looking to rough it in one of the nation's most majestic settings — have become the scene of a public health crisis after two visitors died from a rodent-borne disease following overnight stays."
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
just to be Devil's Advocate...about these hantavirus cases that may have been exposed in Yosemite in mid-June:
symptoms appear 1-6 weeks after exposure...so...is it just a statistical guess that the commonality of those 2 people visiting Yosemite is how they attribute Yosemite mice to the disease, or...could they have caught it somewhere else from other infected mice (yes) and we just don't know where? I just found out that hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was once called "Four Corners Disease" so these travellers might just have been exposed somewhere else on their western journey, and all roads lead to Yosemite for many of them.
Some of this sleuthing done by the CDC and other agencies is statistical and retrospective. Being wagga-like, I am suggesting "no picture-no proof", it may be all statistical probability. I suppose some type of genetic testing of the deceased persons hantavirus and cross-testing with the hantavirus in Yosemite mice would be the only proof positive. I wonder....
There are hundreds of tents, thousands of visitors (incl me) who have stayed there .We have no public knowledge of the unfortunate deceased person's immune systems, either, and that may have been a huge contributing factor.
from CNN (not CDC): The two recent hantavirus cases bring the 2012 total in California to four. About one-third of the 60 cases reported in the state since 1993 have been fatal, the department said. Yosemite National Park saw one hantavirus case each in 2000 and 2010
I hope they don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, ie, Curry Village.
edit: PS from wagga's link All the victims stayed in the cabins between June 10 and June 20, and all four known cases were contracted by people who stayed within 100 feet of each other but not necessarily in the same cabins.
This of course makes it sound much more statistically likely, but I make the case here for care in interpreting ANY scientific conclusion (such as climate, for example) as sometimes more difficult than it seems at first glance.
"Captain Charles Higgins, director of the National Park Service public health office, said that park officials decided to close 91 tent cabins after finding rodents nesting between the double walls of the cabins."
"Our current thinking is that the design of these tents -- double walls -- provides rodent space," Higgins said. "We can't get to it to clean it."
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
too much rockfall off of Glacier Point - yes too many floods - yes, or at least nearby too many lethal disease mice - apparently, but so does my attic
this may be the way to de-people the Valley as it is a goal of some anyway. I'm not saying that is good or bad, as both sides have good points, but all these rationales are provided by Mother Nature and therefore may be more supportable.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Response Continues at Yosemite National Park (August 31, 2012)
Date: August 31, 2012
NPS, CDC Urge Early Detection, Medical Attention for Individuals who Exhibit Symptoms; Health Officials Continue to Monitor New Cases, Protect Public Health
Yosemite National Park continues to scale up its public health response and outreach as a result of six confirmed cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in individuals who visited the park in June of this year..... (read more)
Tear down Camp Curry? Heck no! There are ways of dealing with the Deer Mouse problem other than removing the buildings - the mice will just find other accomodation. (There is plenty of online information on how to deal with Hantavirus.) Even so-called mouse-proof buildings prove to be no obstacle to determine rodents. Wherever there is food, the mice will gather.
"At least six rangers are staffing phones at Yosemite National Park as visitors frightened about a growing outbreak of a deadly mouse-borne virus call seeking answers.
A park spokesman said that more than 1,000 calls a day are coming into the park, many from visitors wondering whether they are in danger of contracting or being exposed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome."
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
too much rockfall off of Glacier Point - yes too many floods - yes, or at least nearby too many lethal disease mice - apparently, but so does my attic
this may be the way to de-people the Valley as it is a goal of some anyway. I'm not saying that is good or bad, as both sides have good points, but all these rationales are provided by Mother Nature and therefore may be more supportable.
just talkin'
Took my time to comment on this, but:
If you were to draw a 100-year rockfall line on the Valley floor, inside the cliffs, then a 100-year flood line outside the river path, you would end up with an elongated doughnut area where it would be mostly safe for the tourist. Something like a thousand acres. A place for permanent buildings for sleeping/congregation & the like. That would make the lawyers happy. The rest of us, knowing and prepared for the dangers could then happily romp around the real Yosemite.
Now, just for fun, the Empire State Building occupies a pad of around 2 acres (I'm sure the Curry Village stores occupy more space), and is less than half the height of the Valley walls. It hosts 4 million visitors a year, about the same as Yosemite! It's all relative.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
The 100 year thing is not as safe as it sounds. We learned a bit about that here in Richmond. After Hurricanes Camille in 1969, the "can't happen again flood" of Agnes came just 3 years later, and was even more record setting.
"There is approximately a 63.4% chance of one or more 100-year floods occurring in any 100-year period" (my italics.)
See 100 year flood math. Some would say something more than the 100 year flood line is the safe line
Health officials say a West Virginia resident has died from the outbreak of a rodent-borne illness linked to Yosemite National Park.
"Last week, Yosemite National Park officials said up to 10,000 people who stayed in certain cabins might have been exposed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Gupta says the virus has now killed three people and sickened five others."
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
I actually got an email notification today from Yosemite that I may have been exposed when I stayed at the High Sierra Camps in July, and asking me to notify all in my party and to consult with an MD. (Coincidentally, my party consisted of me and another person who happens to be a virologist.)
That third victim, from West Virgina, did not stay in the tent cabins at Curry Village. This report says he visited one or more of the High Sierra camps: Glenn Aulin, May Lake, Merced Lake, Sunrise and Vogelsang.
Yosemite National Park, CA - September 6, 2012 - A West Virginia man has died of the rodent borne hantavirus. He became the third fatality this summer from this pulmonary disease. The man had stayed in the park's "high-country" in July. He slept at one or more of the famous High Sierra Camps and not the insulated Signature Tent Cabins in Curry Village as other victims have. This fact could increase the risk as many stay in them.
"The results from the second set of mice were not yet complete, but Kramer said about 45% of the traps set in Tuolumne Meadows were successful, up from previous years. In 2007, only 17% of traps were successful; in 2008, 25%.
Some experts have wondered if more deer mice contributed to the Yosemite outbreak, as hantavirus cases in the past have been linked to an abundant population."
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
From the article: > "It's a really unique opportunity to learn about hantavirus because it's so unprecedented," she said.
I'll bet they're working on a vaccine already. Sooner or later, they'll require a proof of hantavaccine prior to making a reservation on the High Sierra Loop or Curry Village tent cabins. :|
I suspect that, like Giardia, infection depends on exposure to more than some minimum number of agents, and the state of preparedness of the immune system. Imagine taking a liter of water from a polluted stream. One hiker drinks a third of a liter and is OK, the other drinks the rest and we'll leave the results to your imagination. Like Hantavirus, Giardia has a lengthy incubation time.
So we have a situation where, for some reason, the hantamouse population doubles, so any exposure is twice as intense, and the chance of infection is increased exponentially.
This is an interesting discussion, but there is an 800-pound gorilla in the room which hasn't even been mentioned...
Disclosure: I didn't stay at an Express-something hotel last night.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
I've now received two separate Yosemite hantavirus notifications that appear to correspond to two separate trips. The first notification was triggered by my mid-July HSC stays. I believe the second notification was triggered by camping reservations I made for August in Tuolumne Meadows through recreation.gov (i.e., no lodge or curry village stay at all).
SteveC, CaT & I were there several weeks ago, we didn't stay in the hantavillage, but did enjoy a hantapizza at Curry.
Actually, the second night I was there, I did stay in Curry Village, but in one of the cabins. Then a couple of weeks later, when my wife was out there with me, we also stayed in Curry Village, but again, in one of the cabins.
So far, so good.
The veggie hantapizza was really good, though.
CaT
If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
"In 2009, in the category of possible plain bad luck, the park added insulation to some tents to replace winterized cabins destroyed in a massive rock fall in 2008. Unfortunately, mice love to live in insulation, says Gregory Glass, a hantavirus specialist and professor of infectious disease ecology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
"It may just be one of those situations where, historically, when they didn't insulate them, it wasn't that attractive for the mice to sit and stay," he said. "But this one little tweak in the design made just that much of the difference for mice." "
Murphy was an optimist.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
It's possible that no employees have contracted hantavirus because they have received training about the illness and take more precautions because they are more aware of the risks than park visitors, Buttke said. Employees also don't stay in visitor facilities overnight, she said.
That's an incredibly interesting question -- why haven't any employees/house cleaners shown symptoms?? I don't for a moment believe they're more careful as a result of training! Though, as a side note, when I open a mouse infested ranger station at the beginning of a season, I'll open the door and let it air out; then go in with a clorox/water spray bottle and a HEPA mask; then wipe up all the mouse crap with a wet towel. But I suspect I'm alone, even among rangers, though we've all had Hanta training (tenuous at best).
It'll be interesting to see what the results are in terms of antibodies developed.
g.
None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
I don't think the Hantavirus has been studied enough to have a test to determine whether people can build immunity to it. But I'd bet the Yosemite employees and also backcountry rangers get enough low exposure to it over a period of time that they develop an immunity.
On the other hand, a city-dweller who has never been in a Hanta-environment would have never been exposed, so would be way more susceptible.
Steve, there are a variety of testing techniques available to public health officials that are not available for commercial use. They definitely have the ability to test for antibodies indicating exposure.
A bunch of years ago, someone wanted to do blood tests of backcountry rangers for exposure to, I think, tick borne diseases (at least). Not sure if it included Hanta -- and maybe no test existed for it then anyway. The study was done, but it was too logistically difficult for us to participate. I never followed up to see what they found out. Would be interesting... .
None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
Bumping this topic, because the HantaTents are now open.
Actually, YOSE has done a good job of warning visitors, controlling deer mice, and the concessionaire has replaced the double-wall tents with single-wall.
"Warnings about hantavirus pulmonary syndrome now are printed in the park newspaper give(n) to visitors and in reservation confirmation letters for lodgings. It's causes and preventive measures also are posted on Yosemite's website and inside tent cabins and elsewhere in the park."
"This spring, people are coming to the park just like they did before, but now they're more informed," he said.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Bumping this topic, because the HantaTents are now open.
Actually, YOSE has done a good job of warning visitors, controlling deer mice, and the concessionaire has replaced the double-wall tents with single-wall.
"Warnings about hantavirus pulmonary syndrome now are printed in the park newspaper give(n) to visitors and in reservation confirmation letters for lodgings. It's causes and preventive measures also are posted on Yosemite's website and inside tent cabins and elsewhere in the park."
"This spring, people are coming to the park just like they did before, but now they're more informed," he said.
So, what, that means now when you stay in Hanta Village you know not to breathe?
I stayed with my parents in Curry Village for a couple nights in June when they visited. So many things to worry about out there that could hurt us. Guess it just wasnt our time yet. I feel for his family. 
