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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — Health officials say a western Colorado boy is being treated after contracting hantavirus.
The Mesa County Health Department said Wednesday the boy, whose name and age have not been released, was taken to Denver over the weekend and is still being treated. Officials did not say where or how he contracted the virus, which is present in the saliva, urine, and feces of infected mice.
People are infected by breathing in the virus during direct contact with rodents or by disturbing dust and feces from mice nests or surfaces contaminated with mice droppings or urine.
Symptoms include muscle aches, fatigue, high fever, dizziness, headaches, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, which can eventually lead to death.
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