90-Second Read: Longtime Montana Tech professor details decades of work studying deadly Hantavirus

Rick Douglass, a professor emeritus at Montana Tech, spent 25 years studying deer mice and Hantavirus in Montana. Federal, state and local health officials identified a new strain of Hantavirus as the cause. The plight of the MV Hondius, the Dutch-flagged cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of Andes virus, a type of Hantavirus, made international headlines.

He discusses that work in the wake of international Hantavirus news. Still, his recognition of the potential lethality of Hantavirus linked to the mice tempered his regard. That work was valued by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Montana State University and fellow academics.

The research in Montana began soon after news broke nationally of people dying of a mysterious respiratory disease in the Four Corners region of the U.S., where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico's borders meet. Early victims included Navajo tribal members, and tribal officials objected when health officials suggested naming the new virus to reflect those origins. Twenty-five years of deer mouse familiarity did not breed contempt.