Badlands Employee Hantavirus Test Negative

Badlands Employee Hantavirus Test Negative On June 24, 2004, a temporary employee of Badlands National Park was notified that the results on their medical test for hantavirus were negative. An initial test on June 22 indicated a possible infection of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS); however, the final results have proven negative for this potentially deadly disease. In support of employee health and safety, park management brought public health officials to the park to discuss HPS and its prevention with all park staff.

Everyone should take some time to check around their home or work environment to reduce access points for rodents. A hole as small as a pencil can provide a mouse access to your space, notes Marianne Mills, Public Information Officer. We are taking extra efforts to inspect facilities and implement a proactive rodent control program that meets National Park Service standards. As we are constantly finding out, we can’t fight nature. We have to continue on our solutions to work with the world around us – and that includes living with critters like mice and insects. The mantra for mouse control is simple to say but not so easy to do: Seal up. Trap up. Clean up.

HPS has been recognized as a disease only recently in North America and, although fairly uncommon with a low infection rate, requires immediate intensive care once symptoms appear. Transmission occurs when people breathe in air contaminated with the virus. Contamination results from exposure to fresh mouse droppings, including urine, or nesting materials. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), anywhere there are mice, the potential hazards they harbor travel with them. There is virtually no place in the United States does not support communities of rodents. Only a few species of rodents carry HPS and only a small portion of the population is likely to be carriers.

For more information on HPS, visit the Center for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov