Two people have died after contracting hantavirus this summer at a popular lodging area in Yosemite National Park, park officials said Monday. The two deaths are among three recorded cases of the rodent-borne disease contracted at Curry Village, an area with tents and cabins at the eastern end of the national park this summer. A fourth possible case is awaiting confirmation. All four people stayed at Curry Village during a one-week period in the middle of June.
Hantavirus infection is caused by the transmission of the virus from rodent feces or urine to humans. Infection is rare and first manifests itself with flu-like symptoms. The disease progresses quickly and is fatal in 50 percent of cases if it reaches the lungs.
Hantavirus does not make rodents sick and is not transmitted from human to human.
