Post by: dirty24d on August 17, 2012, 02:11:56 PM
My theory / explanation: Wolves have established a stronghold and have driven out the smaller predators such as the yotes and the fox which has allowed the mouse population to explode .....
Am i on to something or do i need to take off the tinfoil cap?? :tinfoil:
Article listed below as written by CNN ( with no mention of wolves ):
Two Californians, one of whom died, may have been exposed to mice droppings or urine that contained hantavirus while vacationing at Yosemite National Park, health officials said Thursday.
The visitors contracted hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, a rare but often fatal lung disease.
The two had stayed at the popular Curry Village in mid-June, according to the California Department of Public Health.
An unidentified 37-year-old man from the San Francisco Bay area died in late July, said Dr. Vicki Kramer, chief of the department's vector-borne disease section.
A Southern California woman in her 40s survived and is recovering, Kramer told CNN.
The two stayed in separate locations at the village, which contains about 400 canvas tent and wooden cabins.
"They are very sparse but comfortable," Yosemite ranger and spokesman Scott Gediman said of the tent cabins where the man and woman stayed.
Officials have focused on deer mice, common in the high-elevation eastern Sierra Nevada region. The mice are gray or brown on top, with white bellies. Their ears have no fur.
"Rodents can infest a whole range of these structures," Kramer said. "Deer mice can get in a hole one-quarter inch in diameter."
In the United States, the carriers of hantavirus are deer mice, cotton rats, rice rats and white-footed mice, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus can be present in the rodents' urine, droppings and saliva, and is spread to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus, the CDC says.
The virus is not communicable from person to person.
Explainer: What is hantavirus?
Rodent control is the primary strategy for preventing the hantavirus syndrome, according to the CDC.
California's health department has worked with Yosemite National Park for years to reduce the risks to visitors, Kramer said. The agency and park public health officers routinely conduct rodent surveillance, and the park inspects buildings and facilities, it said.
The battle begins with workers routinely disinfecting floors and removing mouse droppings.
Once park officials learned of the two cases, all 400 camp structures were thoroughly cleaned, Gediman said Thursday.
Yosemite National Park has increased routine measures to reduce the hantavirus risk, according to officials.
"You cannot eliminate all the mice," Kramer said. "There are a lot of people and snacks that people bring into their tents or cabins."
Gediman said officials consider Curry Village safe and guests have not canceled lodging reservations in the busiest month of the year at Yosemite.
Officials urge people to clean areas of rodent infestation with caution.
It's best not to vacuum or sweep, because that can push hantavirus particles into the air, where they can enter the lungs.
Rather, people should wear gloves and use bleach where they see mouse droppings. They should let the bleach sit for 15 minutes before using a mop or sponge to clean up.
Opening shuttered areas to air and sunlight also is suggested.
The two recent hantavirus cases bring the 2012 total in California to four. About one-third of the 60 cases reported in the state since 1993 have been fatal, the department said. Yosemite National Park saw one hantavirus case each in 2000 and 2010.
There is no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, according to the CDC, but the earlier the patient is brought to intensive care, the better.
Diagnosis is difficult, because early symptoms of fever, muscle aches and fatigue often are confused with the flu.
"However, if the individual is experiencing fever and fatigue, and has a history of potential rural rodent exposure, together with shortness of breath, (that) would be strongly suggestive of HPS," the CDC says.
Post by: JimmyHoffa on August 17, 2012, 02:26:56 PM
Post by: washelkhunter on August 17, 2012, 02:29:12 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on August 17, 2012, 02:35:11 PM
I hate deer mice. I cringe every time I see them!
Post by: dirty24d on August 17, 2012, 04:14:17 PM
Are you thinking Yellowstone? I didn't think they were acknowledging any wolves in Yosemite.
Yes. Your spot on . I kept thinking why does sound off?? Good call.
Does yosemite not acknowledge wolves???
Post by: dirty24d on August 17, 2012, 04:24:41 PM
Post by: Knocker of rocks on August 17, 2012, 04:31:05 PM
Hence, wolves prevent Hanta virus
Post by: Knocker of rocks on August 17, 2012, 08:54:40 PM
My theory / explanation: Wolves have established a stronghold and have driven out the smaller predators such as the yotes and the fox which has allowed the mouse population to explode .....
Am i on to something or do i need to take off the tinfoil cap?? :tinfoil:
A Google search seems to indicate that an influx of large canids (wolves) drives down the population of medium-sized canids (coyotes). The resulting decrease of competition for smaller prey allows small canids(foxes) to increase their numbers.
http://www.mountainnature.com/Articles/WolvesCoyotes&Fox.htm (http://www.mountainnature.com/Articles/WolvesCoyotes&Fox.htm)
These authors posit that increasing coyotes lead to a increase in rodents. Conversely, the introduction ( by whatever means) of wolves would lead to a decrease of rodents.
http://klamathconservation.org/docs/blogdocs/leviwilmers2012.pdf (http://klamathconservation.org/docs/blogdocs/leviwilmers2012.pdf)
Regardless of this data, your hypothesized correlation of large canids in Montana and Wyoming with a mouse-poop born viral infection in California seems more than slightly spurious at this point.
I would suggest removal of the tin foil hat
Post by: Bean Counter on August 17, 2012, 09:23:20 PM
Hanta virus was first recognized in the Hanta River area of Korea during the war. There were no wolves in war-torn Korea, there are no wolves in Yosemite and there are no wolves in downtown Ellensburg, where Washington's first recognized Hanta virus case caused the death of a EPD member.
Hence, wolves prevent Hanta virus
I knew that guy--good cop. Officer Nelson Ng. RIP. :salute:
Post by: seth30 on August 17, 2012, 09:36:14 PM
Post by: dirty24d on August 17, 2012, 09:56:01 PM
Post by: Northway on August 20, 2012, 10:40:58 AM
Apparently a large percentage of deer mice carry it, but only a small number of people who live, work, and recreate around the rodents ever catch it.
I truly believe we don't yet know exactly how it is transmitted, nor what percentage of the population is susceptible to it once exposed. I was helping feed cattle with a friend who pitches in on the family ranch from time to time, and they hay we stacked on the flatbed was LOADED with mouse *censored* of various kinds. I was breathing that stuff in left and right while we stacked and pitched it, but I didn't want to seem apprehensive about it since it's a rare disease, and I probably would have looked like a puss. I got me thinking though: tens of thousands of folks are exposed to those types of situations on a daily basis and never contract the virus? Can someone explain that to me?
Post by: PlateauNDN on August 20, 2012, 10:43:39 AM
Didnt one of the ice road truckers just have a hanta virus scare
Watched it last night and they had some more info. about how he contracted it.
Post by: headshot5 on August 20, 2012, 10:54:39 AM
Post by: Knocker of rocks on August 20, 2012, 10:56:30 AM