Michigan – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced that the first human case of hantavirus was detected in a woman in the state of Michigan, the department said. Recently, an adult washtenaw county woman was hospitalized with a serious lung disease caused by the Unnamed hantavirus. The individual was likely exposed by cleaning an unoccupied home that contained signs of an active rodent infestation.
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Hantavirus was first discovered to be responsible for hantavirus lung syndrome (HPS) in sick patients in the southwestern United States in 1993, since then, HPS has infected people in the United States, and the Americas.Read more: Routine tests a man should have after age 40 Hantavirus infections are associated with household activities , occupational or recreational that put humans in contact with infected rodents, most cases have been identified in adults and tend to occur in spring and summer.
Humans become infected when freshly dried materials contaminated by rodent droppings are altered and inhaled, enter wounds on the skin or mucous membranes, or when they ingest contaminated food or water. Rodent bites can also transmit hantavirus, the greatest risk of exposure occurring when entering or cleaning rodent-infested structures. It is worth mentioning that there are no documented cases of human-to-human transmission of hantavirus in the United States.Symptoms of SPH may be nonspecific at first and include fever, chills, body aches, headache, and gastrointestinal signs such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The disease may progress to include coughing and shortness of breath. HPS has a mortality rate of 40%. Hantaviruses are a family of viruses transmitted primarily by wild rodents and are found all over the world. In the United States, several hantaviruses have been identified that can infect people and each hantavirus has a primary rodent host. The most important hantavirus in the United States, which causes SPH, is the Nameless virus, which is transmitted by the deer mouse and the white-footed mouse. The increased risk of hantavirus infection is associated with opening or cleaning enclosed buildings with rodent infestations without adequate protection. Health care providers with a suspected case of hantavirus should contact their local health department to report the case and discuss options for confirmation testing. Read more: What are the signs of high cholesterol that can appear on the nails Hantaviruses are viruses and are susceptible to most disinfectants, such as dilute chlorine solutions, detergents, commonly used household disinfectants, including those based on phenols, quaternary ammonium compounds and hypochlorite. Depending on environmental conditions, these viruses probably survive less than a week indoors and much shorter periods (hours) when exposed to sunlight outdoors.
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