http://www.boston.com/dailynews/201/region/Vermont_man_contracts_first_Ne:.shtml

Vermont man contracts first New England case of rare virus

By Associated Press, 7/20/2001 07:51

ATLANTA (AP) A Vermont man who cleaned out a mouse nest and trapped mice in his kitchen fell ill in the first known case in New England of a rare, rodent-borne disease usually seen in the Southwest, the government said Thursday.

The 61-year-old man was hospitalized for 23 days last year after fainting and suffering chills, fever, nausea and vomiting from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can be deadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The man's name was not released.

Only 284 cases of the viral illness have been confirmed in the United States, only 15 of them east of the Mississippi River. The disease was first identified in the Southwest in 1993.

On the Net:

CDC hantavirus page: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001