Mice and Shelters

[dug]

Think about this next time you feel a furry little friend run across your sleeping bag on your next shelter visit.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/16/campground.plague.ap/index.html

 

[DougPaul]

Bubonic plague is normally found among the rodents of the southwest.

Presumably just a bigger outbreak than normal.

Doug

 

[trailbiscuit]

What if you boil them first?

 

[DougPaul]

What if you boil them first?

Actually it is generally spread by the fleas on the rodents.

So make sure you boil the fleas before they bite you.

Lots of info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague

Doug

 

[jjmcgo]

Plague is overrated

I've had worse.

 

[Quietman]

I was more concerned when I read about this, I haven't seen anything new but........

[2] USA (New Hampshire)
Date: Fri 1 Oct 2004
Source: The Dartmouth online, Fri 1 Oct 2004 [edited]
<http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2004100101010>


New Hampshire: Dartmouth College Employee Contracts Hantavirus Infection
--------------------------------------------------
A Dartmouth College employee has tested positive for hantavirus, a
non-contagious but potentially fatal respiratory disease carried by
rodents, the College announced on Thu 30 Sep 2004. The male employee
is believed to have contracted the disease after a stay in a
Dartmouth-owned cabin in the Second College Grant in late August. If
it is confirmed that the patient has hantavirus, it will be the 1st
such case in New Hampshire, and one of the few confirmed cases in New
England. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
has not provided Dartmouth College with the man's name, according to
Outdoor Programs director Andrew Harvard. Harvard declined to provide
The Dartmouth with records detailing who stayed in the cabin during
August.

The cabin where the patient stayed and 2 other cabins in the Hellgate
area of the Grant have been closed for decontamination at the
recommendation of the state's Public Health Department and the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patient had reported
seeing mouse droppings in the cabin and touching a blanket with
droppings on it. The cabin was in use when the suspected case of
hantavirus was discovered, and the residents were relocated on Wed 29
Sep 2004 to cabins south of the area. Dartmouth officials are
currently contacting the approximately 350 people who have stayed in
the cabins since they opened in May 2004. The cabins are primarily
used by Dartmouth alumni, employees and their guests, and it has been
determined that no students stayed at the cabins during the Dartmouth
Outing Club freshman trips in early September.

The virus is spread when the droppings, urine and saliva of infected
rodents are aerosolized and inhaled. The disease's primary carrier is
the deer mouse, according to the CDC. Harvard said the Outing Club
attempts to control rodent populations in cabins with poison, but
that it is difficult to keep mice out of cabins. "As anyone with
experience in the outdoors knows, the tug of war between cabin users
and mice is constant in the outdoors," said Harvard.

The symptoms of hantavirus infection, which 1st appeared in the
southwest United States in 1993, generally appear approximately 2
weeks after contact with the virus and can include fever, chills and
vomiting. Extreme cases of the virus can escalate into hantavirus
pulmonary syndrome, which may result in respiratory failure and
death. No cure, vaccine, or treatment for the disease currently
exist, but early referral to an intensive care unit can alleviate
respiratory distress caused by the disease, according to the CDC.

The next steps of the inquiry depend on the outcome of the CDC's
investigation, said Harvard, but an assessment of other cabins in the
Grant is expected and Dartmouth will continue to work closely with
State and Federal Health Officials while monitoring the case. "We
want to respond very quickly to suggestions from the CDC and respond
to needs of the Dartmouth community," said Harvard. "Paramount
concern is that there is a new health risk in the area and [we] want
to manage it and control it."

Health officials say they don't expect an outbreak in New Hampshire.
"It's a rare disease in the United States, and this is the 1st time
its been seen in the area," said Rachel Plotinsky, an epidemiologist
for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. "I
wouldn't imagine it's something we'll see too often."

[Byline: Kate Lyon]

 

[woodstrider]

Don't even get me started! This is one the one animal in the wild that I truely fear. They have cost me alot in shredded gear. Otherwise I am cool with the little critters. And, avoiding the shelters usually avoids the mice, and other vermin.

 

[trailbiscuit]

Met a guy on the AT last year who had contracted the good ol' hanta the year before on the AT. He didn't recommend it. So, it's out there.

So make sure you boil the fleas before they bite you.

Normally, I plop my fleas in my backcountry frialator. Will this be sufficient?

 

[Puck]

Now we need to hike wearing this
I hope it comes in Techwick

 

[danno]

regarding the hanta virus, the Washington State Dept of Health gives this tidbit of information (from http://www.doh.wa.gov/topics/hanta.htm)

Thirty eight percent of the people died as a result of the infection.

I thought it was only on the west coast. Yikes!

 

[onestep]

The plague

I think I'd rather not think about it... maybe I'll take up J-walkin'

Onestep

 

[kmorgan]

Be afraid...be very afraid!

In another related matter, I think I heard a bird sneeze outside my window just now.... uh oh!

 

[Lawn Sale]

Maybe the bird had the Hanta...

 

[jbreen]

About 10 years ago, I heard that someone on Shelter Island (between the forks of Long Island) caught the hanta virus, so it's been on the east coast for a while.

 

[una_dogger]

About 10 years ago, I heard that someone on Shelter Island (between the forks of Long Island) caught the hanta virus, so it's been on the east coast for a while.

I recall, and if I'm not mistaken, that person died.

 

[bubba]

...Plague occurs throughout the West, but is concentrated in the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. An average of 18 cases involving humans are reported each year in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in seven victims die.

And, so... another good reason to stay in the green, comfortable Northeast.

 

[peakbagger]

I believe that the suspected case at the Dartmouth cabin in the college grant turned out not to be Hanta.

 

[Mr. X]

I just bring a box of de-con with me if I'm staying at a shelter.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I just bring a box of de-con with me if I'm staying at a shelter.

That just kills the mice and then the fleas jump off the dead mouse onto you.

Keith

 

[Snowflea]

There's just so much to fear.
May as well just stay home.