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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health reported Thursday that a Utah man has died of hantavirus.
The man was between the age of 45 and 64, and his identity was not released. The health department reported it has counseled the man's family on proper techniques for handling mouse droppings, some of which were found on their property within the state.
Anyone can get the rare but potentially deadly illness that affects the lungs, and six people have died in Utah from hantavirus since 2009, including the most recent death in late May, according to the health department. Since then, though, eight people have become infected in the state. Summer is peak season for the disease.
Hantavirus is contracted by breathing contaminated dust after cleaning or disrupting rodent droppings or nests, where infected urine and saliva may reside, and chances of getting it increase when living in rodent-infested environments.
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and chills, as well as possibly coughing, headaches, nausea and abdominal pain. When detected early enough, hantavirus may be treated.
For more information on preventing infection, visit health.utah.gov/epi/diseases/hantavirus/factsheet.pdf.
