Canada’s first hantavirus death this year has occurred in Alberta, a province with an abnormally high rate of infection.
George Kramps, 58, of Pickardville, died May 1. He was admitted to the Westlock hospital April 9 and transferred to University Hospital in Edmonton later that day.
Dr. Paul Schnee, medical officer for the Aspen Health Region, said the disease can be contracted while cleaning grain bins or by feeding hay to cattle.
There are no known cures for the virus and doctors can do little more than put the patient on a respirator, said Schnee.
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“You just try to keep the person alive while they’re going through their crisis.”
Dr. Karen Grimsrud, Alberta’s deputy provincial health officer, said the department has been unable to find a good explanation for Alberta’s high infection rate.
Canada has seen 31 recorded hantavirus cases since 1989 and 20 have occurred in Alberta. All but one of the latter were recorded in north-central Alberta.
People most often contract the disease when they come into contact with deer mice droppings and inhale the dust. Not all deer mice carry the virus and Alberta doesn’t have the highest percentage of carriers, said Grimsrud.
Who is susceptible?
“There’s another factor going on here that we don’t know about,” she said, adding researchers have many questions about the rare virus that has killed six Albertans since 1989. One of the questions is why some people are susceptible to the disease while others aren’t.
Early symptoms of hantavirus include headaches, diarrhea and chills. Once a person is infected, the disease typically appears in one or two weeks. Early symptoms are followed by a cough and trouble breathing if the person’s immune system can’t fight the problem, said Schnee.
“I usually tell farmers it feels like you’ve climbed a flight of stairs even if you haven’t.”
Anybody who progresses to the second stage should contact a doctor immediately, he said. It’s also important that farmers and acreage dwellers give the doctor those details and add that there was possible contact with deer mice droppings.
“That still doesn’t mean you’ll survive but you have a better chance with support therapy,” said Schnee.
In Alberta, 30 percent of people who contract the virus die. The national average is about 40 percent.
While there are many unknowns about the virus, medical officials have a list of precautions for those living on farms and acreages.
These include wearing gloves and a mask when cleaning mice droppings. Farmers should wet the droppings down so they don’t stir up dust, said Grimsrud, adding that the deposits should never be vacuumed.
She thinks many farmers are informed about the infection but urges them to act on the information.
“Sometimes they think that it happened to their neighbor but they’re young and healthy so it can’t happen to them.”
Most people who contract the virus are between 30 and 50 years old, said Grimsrud. The youngest person in Alberta who contracted the virus was 15 while the oldest was 62.
Although deer mice are the only proven carriers of hantavirus, she urges farmers to be careful around all rodent droppings. Deer mice may be reddish brown or grey and have white fur on the neck, belly and tail.
