A northern Alberta man died from hantavirus in December, the province’s only death from the virus in 2000.
The 22-year-old High Prairie man developed classic symptoms of the virus two weeks after coming into contact with mouse droppings, said Dr. Paul Schnee, medical officer of health for the Keeweetinok Lakes Regional Health Authority.
Schnee said the man first came in contact with the droppings when he took items from an attic in an old building and again when he was checking the furnace in a house trailer. It is not known if one or both of the mouse droppings carried the hantavirus.
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The death shows hantavirus can be contracted year round, Schnee said.
“It can occur anytime if you have adequate exposure to mouse droppings containing the virus.”
This latest case indicates a person may be able to contact hantavirus without creating a lot of dust. Usually people become sick during spring cleaning when they create dust from contaminated mouse droppings.
Twenty-one people in Alberta have contracted hantavirus with seven deaths. The first case in the province was in 1989.
In 1999 there was one case and one death.
