Scientists who fanned out across parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan last month found proof that the deadly hantavirus is lurking in rural areas.
Scientists from the new federal virology lab in Winnipeg took blood samples from 457 deer mice at 33 locations in southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan. Their research began after a Manitoba woman died from the virus July 5.
Blood samples showed that 11.5 percent of deer mice collected in Manitoba carried the sin nombre strain of hantavirus. In southeast Saskatchewan, 15 percent of mice collected tested positive for the same strain.
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Deer mice with antibodies against hantavirus were found in abandoned houses, vehicles, granaries and utility sheds.
In light of those findings, released last week, health officials are again warning people to be cautious.
People living in southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba risk exposure to the hantavirus if they come in contact with deer mice or their habitats.
Infected deer mice excrete the virus through urine, saliva and feces. The most likely way for people to get infected is by breathing in the airborne virus.
The name of the woman who died July 5 is not being released. Before moving to Manitoba, she resided somewhere in rural Saskatchewan.
She died within hours of arriving at the Brandon General Hospital. Her death pushed the number of confirmed cases of hantavirus in Canada to 32, including 12 fatalities.
