LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Some 10,000 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park over the summer may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne hantavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a health advisory on Friday.
The advisory urges lab testing of patients with symptoms consistent with the lung disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and recommends that doctors notify state health departments when it is found.
“An estimated 10,000 persons stayed in the ‘Signature Tent Cabins’ from June 10 through August 24, 2012,” the CDC said in the advisory. “People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next 6 weeks.”
Two men have died from hantavirus linked to the Yosemite outbreak and four other people were sickened but survived, California health officials have said.
