Hanta
Most Wanted Virus
What is HPS?
Infection with hantavirus can progress toHantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which can be fatal. People become infected through contact with hantavirus-infected rodents or their urine and droppings. The Sin Name hantavirus, first recognized in 1993, is one of several New World hantaviruses circulating in the US.
Who can you get HPS?
Any man, woman, or child who is around mice or rats that carry harmful
hantaviruses can get HPS. You do not have to already be sick to be at risk for
HPS. Healthy people have become ill with HPS.
While HPS is a very rare disease, cases have occurred in all regions of the
United States except for Alaska and Hawaii.