NativeNewsNetwork: One Girl Dead From Rodent Virus on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

[OmahaBlueDog]

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESEVATION – Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele has confirmed in a news release that a girl 10 years or younger has died on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from hantavirus. She died last week and she will be laid to rest today.

People become infected through contact with hantavirus infected rodents or their urine and droppings, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Steele called for tribal programs and other organizations "to immediately lend their support in whatever way possible to ensure that this tragedy does not strike again."

Read more at: http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/one-girl-dead-from-rodent-virus-on-pine-ridge-indian-reservation.html

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Related story:

2nd rodent disease case reported on SD reservation

By KRISTI EATON

The Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. —
While many Oglala Sioux residents living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation had heard about an outbreak of hantavirus in the Navajo Nation in 1993, they weren't worried about the disease spread by rodents until a 7-year-old member of their tribe died last week.

Tribal officials said late Monday night a second case has developed, and they are working with several agencies to pass out hundreds of cleaning kits that include gloves, masks and bleach to help prevent further spread of the disease. Rodents shed the virus in their urine, waste and saliva, and it can become airborne in particles of dust.

The Navajo outbreak, in which several otherwise healthy young people died after suffering acute respiratory failure, led to the discovery of hantavirus. But it was hundreds of miles away and nearly two decades ago. Pine Ridge didn't need to worry about that, residents thought.

"Until it hit us ... it was something we couldn't even imagine," tribal spokeswoman Donna Salomon said.

Read more at: http://www.newstalkradiowhio.com/ap/ap/environment/2nd-hantavirus-case-confirmed-on-pine-ridge/nPL5N/

[Scootaloo]

1. Just what America's own little fourth-world nation needed

a hemorrhagic virus outbreak.

[sweetloukillbot]

2. Hanta's horrible - I was living in Flagstaff during the Navajo outbreak 20 years ago

It's rare, but I think there's usually a case or two every year in AZ or New Mexico. I know I still get a little worried every year when the roof rats invade my house in the spring. Although not as worried as I was living in Iowa with the giant, aggressive squirrels in the backyard!

[Scootaloo]

3. My understanding is that its vectors are limited

It seems to be tied to the deer mouse, white-footed mouse, pack rat, and related rodents that are actually native to North and Central America. Eurasian rodents like black and Norway rats, and the house mouse don't carry it.

Not that anyone wants those critters as housemates, either, but if htey're the ones you've got scurrying in your attic, you're better off worrying about bubonic plague and ruined wiring.