Incurable rat disease kills four people as health officials issue urgent alert amid ‘very serious’ surge in cases

FOUR people in the US have died this year after being infected with an incurable disease spread by rats.

They were all diagnosed with hantavirus, a family of viruses that kill around 38 per cent of patients and spread via rodent droppings.

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It typically only causes around 30 cases per year in the US, but some parts of the country are recording a surge in the disease.

Arizona public health officials have confirmed six cases and three deaths in the past six months.

This is compared to 11 cases in the six years from 2016 to 2022. 

There have also been two cases and one death in California this year, including in a county that hasn't detected the virus in humans in two decades.

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Experts speculate the extreme heatwaves sweeping across the county may be partly to blame.

“Many carrying-disease species get on the move with climate change," Dr Camilo Mora, professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, said.

"While for any specific case, it is difficult to conclude the role of climate change, climate change has all the attributes to cause outbreaks of vector-borne diseases,” he told NBC News.

Rats and mice can carry hantavirus but not suffer any symptoms.

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Meanwhile, humans can suffer an abrupt onset of fever, muscle aches, nausea and abdominal pain nine to 33 days after infection.

Sometimes, this can progress to something more serious called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which has a 50 per cent fatality rate.

About one to eight weeks after infection, patients usually suffer fever, sore muscles, headaches, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.

Four to 10 days later, the disease progresses to shortness of breath.

The disease attacks blood vessels in the lungs, causing them to leak and fill the lungs with fluid. This can lead to suffocation and death.

Doctors treat the virus using ventilators to ensure patients get enough oxygen.

Patients are also given IV drips to ensure they get enough nutrients and remain hydrated. 

Some drugs may also be administered to help manage the pain, fever and other symptoms. 

But these is no specific treatment, cure or vaccine for hantavirus infection.

Hantavirus: 7 things you need to know

1. Hantavirus is a zoonotic, viral respiratory disease
2. It can progress into hantavirus fever or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The latter has a fatality rate of up to 50 per cent
3. Individuals become infected with the virus through contact with the excreta, droppings or saliva of infected rodents such as rats, mice or voles. The infection usually occurs in rural areas
4. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, and fever. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains, and diarrhoea can also occur, followed by sudden onset of respiratory distress 
5. The virus occurs throughout the world and the first documented outbreak of the disease took place during the Korean War when more than 3,000 troops fell ill with the disease. This is characterised as Old World hantavirus
6. In 1993 there was an outbreak of the virus in the United States - this is known as New World hantavirus and can lead to the more serious pulmonary form of the disease. The first major outbreak of the disease in Panama took place in 2000 when three people died
7. There is no treatment or vaccine for hantavirus - the best way to prevent it is through control of rodents

Source: World Health Organization