California's Department of Health has reported three more cases of Hantavirus originating out of Yosemite National Park.That brings the total to six this summer, two men, one from California and the other from Pennsylvania recently died. Three people have recovered and one remains hospitalized.
As we head into a busy Labor Day weekend for Yosemite National Park, a health scare has forced Yosemite to temporarily close 91 of its Signature tent cabins in Curry Village.
“We are actually retrofitting them and we are mouse proving them,” said Kari Cobb, a ranger at Yosemite National Park.
Visitors who had rented them have been relocated.
“There are 408 other cabins that are not that are not the Signature type cabins,” said Cobb.
Gaps in the walls were giving deer mice a place to make nests so workers are taking measures to shut them out.
“We don't know how long that process is going to take. Of course when we do finish that process we will retest them to make sure they are 100% rodent proof before we open them again to the public,” said Cobb.
This summer the feces and urine of these mountain rodents became airborne. Close to 3,000 visitors are estimated to have been exposed to it. However, only a half dozen have reportedly become infected with Hantavirus.
“We wash our hands a little more often but it's the same old, same old basically,” said Kathie Angione, a Park Visitor.
Kathie Angione, a regular Yosemite visitor from San Diego, says nothing will stop her from staying in curry village.
“It’s the most beautiful place in the world. It the smell of the trees, it's the wildlife,” said Angione.
Contracting Hantavirus is rare, but if you've possibly been exposed to it and begin to experience flu like symptoms, see a doctor.
“The key to recovery from this virus is diagnosing it really quickly,” said Cobb.
