Hantavirus Causes Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Muscle Pain Myalgia, Fever, Chills Symptoms

This is a rodent issue that your health cannot support!

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare, lethal virus infection. It’s spread around via certain species of mice and rats urine, droppings and saliva.  Some refer to it as the Four Corners virus.

The main transmission of hantavirus causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is breathing contaminated air. And having contact with an infected rodent’s excretions is another mode.  It is not contagious, so you don’t “catch it” from others.

The specific wild rodents which carry this type of hantavirus include:

  • rice rats
  • deer mice
  • cotton rats
  • white footed mice

CDC offers up pictures of these deadly rodents.

The earliest and most frequent symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome are myalgia, fever and chills.  Deep muscle pain is typically felt in your larger muscle groups, such as thighs, hips, back and shoulders.

Other symptoms you may experience early on include:

These later signs involve pulmonary distress type symptoms, around 7 days after onset of your infection:

Once the cardiopulmonary phase begins, the disease progresses rapidly into an emergency situation.  Death at this stage has been an outcome for some otherwise healthy individuals.

A couple of uncommon symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome symptoms are:

Sadly, there is no specific treatment, cure or vaccine for this rare hantavirus infectious disease. Yet anyways. Anitbiotics do not treat viruses.  Thus, prevention of this infrequent, deathly disease causing myalagia, fever and chills is paramount.

Couple of ways for reducing your hantavirus exposure:

  • do not handle wild rodents
  • wash all potentially contaminated food
  • throw away food that has been infiltrated by rodents
  • control rodents in and around your house, barns, sheds, warehouses, other buildings
  • if you touch something that you suspect has been contaminated with rodent urine, droppings or saliva, then wash you hands pronto

If you do stumble upon a rodent infested area, don’t stir up the air by sweeping or the like.  Remember, that infection can transpire when you breathe in hantavirus particles.

If after some type of rodent exposure you have symptoms of myalgia, fever and chills, pay your health care provider a visit immediately.

BTW pet store purchased mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and other rodents are not suspected carriers of the hantavirus.

Viral Health Blurbs:

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