Yosemite National Park -- - There's no way of knowing whether the mouse that scampered across David Weidemann's face while he was sleeping Monday night in Curry Village was infected with the deadly hantavirus, but he wasn't taking any chances following the deaths of two other campers.
The burly Detroit autoworker took a whack at the rodent, leapt out of his bunk and bellowed good and loud.
"I felt three steps on the left side of my face," said Weidemann, 52, who was spending the second of three nights in Yosemite with two friends. "That got me right up."
The too-close-for-comfort encounter came as Yosemite officials stepped up efforts to control what could be a deadly outbreak. A second Yosemite visitor was reported to have died this week after contracting the hantavirus while staying at Curry Village. He was identified only as an adult male from out of state.
That makes three confirmed cases, including the two deaths. Another possible case, also reported Monday, is being investigated. The only other reported cases of hantavirus exposure in Yosemite were both in Tuolumne Meadows, in 2000 and 2010.
The deaths prompted Yosemite officials to call or send e-mails to 1,700 people who stayed at Curry Village between mid-June and August to advise them that they may have been exposed to the hantavirus and should seek medical attention if they experience flu-like symptoms. An alert, or "call for cases," has been issued to doctors around the country and internationally to keep an eye out for people suffering from the illness.
"Early treatment is critical," said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman. "What happened in other cases is that people felt they had a cold or the flu, and by the time they were examined by a doctor it was more difficult to treat."
Hantavirus is a rare and often fatal viral infection carried by mice. Humans can catch it when they inhale airborne rodent feces, urine or saliva.
Most people infected with the virus suffer flu-like symptoms first, including fever, headache and muscle pains, often in the thighs, back and hips. After two to seven days, many patients have severe difficulty breathing.
About 60 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been reported in California since it was identified in the United States in 1993. About a third of those patients died, according to health officials.
No treatment
There is no cure or virus-specific treatment for the disease, which can have an incubation period of as long as six weeks.
Gediman said the victims were all members of family groups that stayed in four or five different "signature cabins" numbered in the 900s between June 10-20. The cabins, which rent for $80 to $120 a night depending on the season, were within 150 feet of one another.
It is not clear how the victims contracted the illness, but native deer mice are the only animals in Yosemite that carry the virus.
About 15 to 20 percent of the 4-inch-long rodents carry the virus, and they are common in the area. Mice feces mixing with dust, becoming airborne and then being breathed in is the most likely avenue of transmission, officials said. Gediman said it is a mystery why all the cases were concentrated in the single time frame.
No mouse droppings were found inside the cabins, he said, possibly because housekeeping cleaned up anything that might have been there.
"There were mouse droppings around the cabins and around the restrooms," he said. "There are a lot of different places the infections could have occurred."
Staying on 'death row'
Officials with the U.S. Public Health Service and Occupational Safety and Health Administration were inspecting the 91 cabins in the area where the infections occurred. The inspectors said they were looking for gaps in the wood, plaster or flooring where mice can get inside.
Gediman pointed out where workers had patched holes in one cabin. It happened to be two cabins from where Weidemann and his friends were staying.
"We heard about the hantavirus before we came and didn't think much of it, but we didn't know we were on death row," said Weidemann's friend, Robin Kruskie, 41, of Petoskey, Mich., gesturing down the dirt trail intersecting a line of tent cabins. "They are obviously in disrepair. I think they get enough money to make some repairs."
Her builder husband, Doug Kruskie, 45, pointed out several worn areas under cabins where little white pieces of eaten-away insulation lay on the ground.
"The mice will come right in wherever you have openings like that," he said.
Signs of caution
Caution signs were posted on restroom walls throughout Curry Village on Tuesday, and park visitors were given brochures telling them about the virus and how to avoid it. Gediman said there isn't much more park officials can do.
"We're doing our best, but it is impossible to make the cabins impenetrable," Gediman said. "This is a wilderness environment. The deer mice are native to the area, so we don't want to do anything to eradicate them."
The park's effort did little to alleviate the fears of Jessica Beaulieu, 32, of Canada, who arrived Monday night with her husband, David De Grandpre, 33, and 3-month-old daughter Jade, only to wake up Tuesday and read the warning.
"I'm a bit afraid, mostly for the baby," she said. "I wash my hands often and make sure all our food is protected."
Despite his unwanted wildlife experience, Weidemann remained somewhat philosophical.
"I live in Detroit, where five people a day get murdered," he said. "I have a much better chance of that happening than the 1 in a million chance of catching the hantavirus. You come for the view, not the accommodations. This is God's country, no doubt about it."
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