Day: July 19, 2007

Texas Department of State Health Services is recommending precautions after two Texas residents developed hantavirus pulmonary syndrome this year [2007]. *One person, a Jefferson County resident, died. The other person, a Crosby County resident, recovered. *Hantavirus is carried by certain species of rats and mice. The illness is rare. Infected rodents shed the virus in their urine, droppings and saliva. The virus can be transmitted to people when infected rat or mouse urine, saliva, droppings or nesting materials are stirred up, temporarily aerosolizing the virus, which can be breathed in by humans. *People who live in rural