First fatal case of hantavirus since 1994 confirmed in New Mexico Story-Date: 01:37 a.m. PST Thursday , April 30, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------ First fatal case of hantavirus since 1994 confirmed in New Mexico By Richard Benke Associated Press Writer ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico has logged its first fatal hantavirus case in four years, prompting state health officials to warn people to watch for signs of rodents during spring cleanup projects. A 23-year-old San Juan County man died Tuesday night in an Albuquerque hospital, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Ettestad said. An examination of the man's home in the Four Corners area was planned to determine how he contracted the virus. "There might have been some cleaning up in which rodent feces were encountered," Ettestad said Wednesday in Santa Fe. Health officials in several Western states had warned that El Nino weather patterns might heighten risk of hantavirus exposure this spring if extra moisture produced more mice and other rodents. The virus is commonly spread in airborne particles of rodent feces or urine. "This time of year is particularly bad because people have had cabins and trailers that have been closed up all winter long," Ettestad said. "People need to be sure they air them out before they go into those buildings and start cleaning up." The infected man was transferred to Albuquerque from a regional hospital in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, Ettestad said. The hantavirus infection was confirmed by the University of New Mexico. Neither the man's identity nor the names of the hospitals could be disclosed because of confidentiality rules, he said. The Four Corners area, where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet, was a hot spot for hantavirus when the deadly respiratory illness first surfaced in 1993. The latest victim was the first fatality attributed to hantavirus since 1994, Ettestad said. Only two people in New Mexico contracted hantavirus last year, and neither died. One was also a resident of San Juan County, the other from Taos County, health officials said Wednesday. Eleven people died in the initial 1993 outbreak. The latest case brought to 80 the number of deaths nationally and 15 in New Mexico. So far there have been 32 hantavirus cases confirmed in the state, 181 nationally. The national figures include a fatal case of hantavirus in Colorado less than two weeks ago. That victim was a 17-year-old boy who lived on a ranch west of Colorado Springs. He died April 18 after being hospitalized less than a day. Early symptoms of the respiratory illness, called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, include fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough. The symptoms develop within one to six weeks after exposure to the virus. There is no specific treatment for the virus, but chances of survival improve if early treatment is sought. Besides airing out closed-up buildings, health officials recommend that buildings be carefully sealed up in the first place so mice cannot enter. They also recommend trapping mice and using disinfectant to clean up rodent droppings. ------------------------------------------------------------