Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The hiker was exposed to the virus last year somewhere along the 500 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, the State Health Department said Monday. That conclusion is based on the infection's incubation period. The man started on the trail in Georgia and became ill by the time he got to Pennsylvania.
Symptoms usually appear about two weeks after exposure, so the part of the trail closest to Pennsylvania is suspected as the most likely site of the infection.
State officials won't identify areas under investigation, but confirmed that the hantavirus has been found in mice in Shenandoah National Park.
Half of the 98 people infected with the hantavirus since the first outbreak was reported in the Southwestern United States in May 1993 have died.
The Australian hiker recovered after being hospitalized for a month for lung, kidney, liver and pancreas problems. It took months, however, to confirm that he had a hantavirus infection.
He is back home, but his experience has sparked new awareness of the virus' potential threat. It has infected people in 21 states, but only four east of the Mississippi River.
"We know there is a serious disease out there that you can catch," Dr. Suzanne Jenkins, assistant state epidemiologist, said. "We can't be as cavalier as in the past about an area where a lot of rodents are found."
Since the state already has information on the Shenandoah park, investigators will probably start trapping and testing mice on the southern part of the trail first, Jenkins said. The trail enters Virginia near Damascus in Washington County.
They also are reading the hiker's trip diary for clues about where he might have encountered mice. They are focusing on places where he said he stayed in rodent-infested buildings.
The Appalachian Trail Conference has notified trail clubs about the investigation and is waiting for direction from the health department before taking other action, such as a general cleanup of shelters, a spokesman in its Harpers Ferry, W.Va., office said.
The hantavirus is found in the urine, saliva and droppings of infected mice and can become airborne. Breathing is the most common way of catching the virus, which can also be contracted by touching the mouth or nose after handling contaminated materials or by being bitten by an infected rodent.
Symptoms are flu-like. Initally, there is a fever of 101 to 104 degrees and muscle aches, followed by headache, cough, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The primary symptom is difficulty in breathing caused by a build-up of fluid in the lungs.
There is no specific treatment for the disease.
The hantavirus can be found anywhere, but most human infections generally have been in rural areas. The May 1993 outbreak that brought the disease to national attention involved residents, mostly Navajos, in the Four Corners region including New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
Urban rats and house mice are not usually the culprits in this disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
At least three strains of the virus have been identified in the reported infections.
by CNB