Hantavirus identified in six visitors to Yosemite National Park

Four new cases of the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome have been identified among people who visited Yosemite National Park, bringing the total number to six cases of hantavirus.

Between early June and mid-July, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) has been confirmed in six people: five California residents and one Pennsylvania resident. Two patients have died, three have recovered and one is currently hospitalized, according to a press release from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

“CDPH is working closely with the National Park Service and the CDC to further investigate the cluster of HPS cases in Yosemite and reduce the risk of other visitors becoming ill from this virus,” Ron Chapman, MD, MPH, director of the CDPH, said in a press release. “CDPH is continuing to monitor cases of HPS in persons who visited Yosemite National Park.”

Four of the people infected, including the two who died, lodged in the “signature cabins” of the Boystown area of Curry Village. Another lodged in Curry Village and the other is still being investigated. The California residents are from the Sacramento region, San Francisco Bay area and Southern California.

Upon recommendations from the CDPH, Yosemite National Park closed all tent cabins in the Boystown area. The National Park Service has also communicated to all guests who stayed in the Boystown area between June 10 and August 24 to alert them about HPS.

Since HPS was first identified in 1993, there have been 63 cases, 21 of them fatal, in California. These recent cases bring the total case count in California for 2012 to seven.