CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginian is the third person to die so far from a rodent-borne illness linked to some tent cabins at Yosemite National Park that has stricken eight people in all, health officials said Thursday.
Five people are ill from the outbreak reported last week by park officials, who said up to 10,000 guests could have been exposed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome from sleeping in the cabins since June 10.
More infections could be reported. Alerts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent to public health agencies, doctors and hospitals have turned up other suspected cases that have not yet been confirmed. This week, the European CDC and the World Health Organization issued global alerts for travelers to any country to avoid exposure to rodents.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, declined to release details of the West Virginia victim at a news conference.
The other deaths occurred in California and Pennsylvania.
