Health Officials Announce 2nd Hantavirus Death

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Health is attributing a second Carbon County death this month to hantavirus.

The department says preliminary test results show hantavirus killed a woman in the Saratoga area last week. Tuesday's announcement followed a Friday announcement about the death of a Rawlins-area man, also from hantavirus.

The department says the two cases appear to be unrelated.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is most commonly transmitted to humans by rodent urine, feces or saliva. Humans can become infected by breathing in dust containing the dried material or if it touches broken skin.

Deer mice are the primary carriers of the disease in Wyoming. Most exposures occur in homes and outbuildings such as a barns.

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