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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Hantavirus Takes 2nd Life in N.M.

By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau
       LAS CRUCES — Hantavirus has claimed its second victim in New Mexico this year — a 22-year-old Otero County woman.
    The woman died after seeking treatment at a hospital during the weekend before Thanksgiving Day, state Department of Health spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer said Monday.
    There has been one other case in the state this year. In March, a 64-year-old Taos County man died from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
    Hantavirus is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings or saliva, and humans can contract the disease by inhaling the aerosolized virus. The deer mouse is the main reservoir for the virus in New Mexico.
    The Health Department has begun an investigation to try to determine how the Otero County woman contracted the virus, Busemeyer said in a telephone interview.
    New Mexico recorded three cases of Hantavirus with one fatality in 2007, and eight cases with three fatalities in 2006.
    The state has reported a total of 78 Hantavirus cases since 1975, with 33 deaths resulting from the disease. Nearly 45 percent of New Mexico cases have occurred in McKinley County in the northwest part of the state.
    The Otero County death marked only the second fatality from Hantavirus in southern New Mexico, and the first since a Doña Ana County resident succumbed in 1992, Busemeyer said.
    "The best defense against Hantavirus is to avoid disturbing areas of rodent infestation, including nests and droppings," Dr. Paul Ettestad, a state public health veterinarian said in a news release. "The colder weather attracts rodents to indoor areas for shelter and food, so sealing up small holes and cracks in residential buildings is very important to prevent mice from getting inside."
    Early symptoms of Hantavirus, fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough, develop within one to six weeks of exposure.