-Caveat Lector-
Officials Fear Hantavirus Outbreak
By DEBORAH BAKER
.c The Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Six years ago, people in a vast stretch of the
Southwest were fearful of a mysterious, flu-like illness that was killing the
previously healthy with frightening speed. The fear is back.
Four New Mexicans and one person from Colorado have died this year of
hantavirus, and experts are worried this could be the beginning of an
especially bad year for the mouse-borne disease.
Since the beginning of 1998, there have been more than two dozen cases in the
Four Corners states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado -- more than
twice as many as in the previous three years combined, said Dr. Brian Hjelle,
associate professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
``The conventional wisdom is, it's El Nino,'' he said. The cyclically
recurring disruption in the tropical Pacific made for a wetter-than-usual
1997-98, followed by a milder, drier ``La Nina'' winter just past.
More rainfall creates greater cover, more shelter and a bigger food supply --
nuts, seeds, vegetation and insects -- for rodents. That likely means more
deer mice, identified as the main culprit in the spread of hantavirus.
Hantavirus is typically caught by breathing dust contaminated with a rodent's
infected urine, feces or saliva. Experts recommend a wet clean-up, using a
disinfectant solution.
Dan Bradshaw of Durango, Colo., contracted the disease in 1996 after sweeping
out a mouse-infested building at an electronic tower site he owned and then
spending the night there.
Bradshaw said it took months -- and visits to four different doctors -- to
get a correct diagnosis of the coughing fits, blackouts and other symptoms
that were making him miserable.
A 50-year-old former bicycle racer and marathon runner, his athletic
activities have been severely curtailed.
``They hope that the lungs regenerate and repair themselves, but they're not
quite sure they will,'' Bradshaw said.
Early on, hantavirus resembles the flu: fever and muscle aches, and sometimes
chills, headaches, nausea and vomiting. That makes it extremely tough to
diagnose on a first visit to a doctor.
Once the more serious symptoms start -- acute respiratory problems and fluid
buildup in the lungs -- they generally progress rapidly.
``It's still a really difficult, complicated disease,'' said Paul Ettestad,
hantavirus epidemiologist with the New Mexico Department of Health.
The strain of hantavirus labeled ``Sin Nombre'' or ``No Name'' was first
recognized in 1993 after a flurry of cases -- 18 in New Mexico, 10 in Arizona
and five in Colorado.
In all, more than 200 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been
confirmed in 30 states -- some of them older, mysterious cases that weren't
solved until the strain was identified. Of those, nearly 45 percent have been
fatal.
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