Please read Mono County Public Health’s report on Hantavirus, TBRF, and Rabies.
Avoid “All Creatures Great and Small”! — mice, ticks, bats and mosquitoes
It has been an interesting summer so far in Mono County. Here is a quick rundown, with links to more information:
Hantavirus: This week a summer resident of Mono County was hospitalized in serious condition with a laboratory confirmed infection caused by the Sin Nombre virus (SNV). Infection results in what is called the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), and is characterized by a rapid dramatic clinical progression with a high case fatality rate. It is transmitted to humans through inhalation of aerosolized feces, urine, or saliva from the single rodent species carrying it in the Eastern Sierra – the deer mouse. See the following link for more information on protecting yourself: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/HantavirusPulmonarySyndr…
Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF): We also had a laboratory confirmed case of TBRF reported to us. This is about soft ticks – which you will never see, and are not the hard ticks that can cause Lyme disease. See the following link for more info: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/TBRF.aspx
Rabies: A Mono County resident recently suffered a bite from a bat on his finger. He did all the right things! He killed the bat, presented himself to a hospital for post-exposure rabies prophylaxis, and had the bat sent off for testing. The laboratory confirmed that the bat was infected with rabies. Although we are often asked about the risk of rabies from contact with various animals, virtually all of the risk in Mono County is from bats. In the last 2 ½ years, almost 300 bats have tested positive in California, with about 8-10% of sick or dead bats testing positive. It is estimated that 1-2% of healthy bats are infected. See the following link for more information:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Rabies.aspx