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Hantavirus in Yosemite
#27024 08/16/12 04:57 PM
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wagga Offline OP
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Story in the Fresno Bee and also the Washington Post.

As a commenter on the Bee noted:

"This can happen because rattlesnakes are not tolerated in urban areas of the park. We win the battle but we lose the war."



Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
wagga #27026 08/16/12 06:33 PM
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Wagga,

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.



http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/06/09/2867841/merced-river-plan-scenarios-offer.html


Lynnaroo
Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
lynn-a-roo #27032 08/17/12 04:26 AM
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rare hantavirus deaths have occurred elsewhere from mice, like in trail shelters on the AT here in the East.

it is rare... far more people die swimming, or getting hit by lightning.

Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
Harvey Lankford #27035 08/17/12 07:28 AM
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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.

Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
wagga #27050 08/18/12 01:43 AM
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That poor gentleman frown 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.

Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
pBerg #27054 08/18/12 07:13 AM
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More info here and a pic of a deer mouse.


Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: 1 Man Dead; Possibly Contracted Hantavirus At Yosemite
wagga #27306 08/27/12 07:40 PM
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CNN is now reporting 1 more dead after contracting hantavirus at Yosemite National Park.

"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
Yosemite Officials Say 1,700 Visitors Risk Disease
wagga #27325 08/28/12 04:34 PM
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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."


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Re: Yosemite Officials Say 1,700 Visitors Risk Disease
wagga #27329 08/28/12 05:22 PM
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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.




Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Harvey Lankford #27356 08/29/12 07:18 PM
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Details from Reuters.

"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
Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
wagga #27376 08/30/12 05:44 PM
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okay, I will be even more conspiratorial

end of Curry Village as we know it

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'


Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Harvey Lankford #27378 08/30/12 07:36 PM
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I completely agree with you, Harvey.


(the proper lingo is supposed to be the insufferably obnoxious "Just Saying"!!!!)


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Bee #27388 08/31/12 06:57 AM
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wagga Offline OP
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More news from CNN.
They are reporting 4 new cases for a total of 6. I think it should actually be 7.


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Yosemite NP: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Response
wagga #27401 08/31/12 04:34 PM
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Yosemite NP's own web page:

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)


Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Harvey Lankford #27407 09/01/12 07:50 AM
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Here is a little Camp Curry history:

http://www.undiscovered-yosemite.com/curry.html

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.


Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Bob West #27421 09/01/12 03:55 PM
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wagga Offline OP
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Here is an update from the Fresno Bee.

"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
Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
wagga #27424 09/01/12 04:38 PM
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There is an interesting thread by eeek on our sister site Yosemite News & Information.

Some are even advocating the introduction of hantacats to the hantavillage... We know how that works out!


Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
Harvey Lankford #27425 09/01/12 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted By: Harvey Lankford
okay, I will be even more conspiratorial

end of Curry Village as we know it

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
Re: Yosemite Closes Part Of Popular Campground Over Hantavirus..
wagga #27443 09/02/12 02:55 PM
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Originally Posted By: wagga
100-year flood line

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

As for hantavirus, it is also known as Four Corners Disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7711347 Four Corners Disease

some history
Four Corners Disease history

Hantavirus Kills Third Yosemite National Park Camper
Harvey Lankford #27528 09/06/12 04:40 PM
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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."


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