
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993                   TAG: 9308130286
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`FOUR CORNERS' ILLNESS KILLS ELSEWHERE, TOO

Two new deaths attributed to the mysterious "Four Corners disease" have been identified in Oregon and Louisiana, the latter ominously caused by a new strain of virus carried by a different rodent, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The new cases suggest that the disease could exist elsewhere in the country and that much of the southern and western United States may be at risk.

The disease, which has so far killed 33 victims who suffocated when their lungs filled with fluid, had previously been linked to a hantavirus carried by the deer mouse.

But CDC officials said that the new case in Louisiana was caused by a strain of hantavirus different from that seen in the other patients. Furthermore, the Louisiana case and one previously reported in east Texas are outside the normal range of the deer mouse, indicating that the new strain may be carried by a different rodent. - Los Angeles Times

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB