90-Second Read: The U.S.'s Last Hantavirus Outbreak Was In a Campground. Should Hikers Worry?

Scott McClelland, an infectious disease specialist, shares what hikers and backpackers should know about Hantavirus. In the past week, an outbreak of Hantavirus on a cruise ship in the south Atlantic has captured the attention of people worldwide. The important thing in terms of human-to-human transmission, even when we're talking about the Andean virus, is that it takes prolonged close contact." Might the cruise ship outbreak lead to rapid spread of Hantavirus? In fact, the U.S.'s most recent notable outbreak happened in a campground in 2012, when 10 people became ill and three died after staying at Yosemite's Curry Village. Scott McClelland, a Seattle-based hiker and specialist in infectious diseases at UW Medicine, says backpackers' risk of contracting Hantavirus is extremely low.

But overall, the risk is really low." In the U.S., infected deer mice are common carriers for Hantavirus. After an incubation period that can last weeks, Hantavirus initially presents with flu-like symptoms that can worsen and lead to severe and even deadly respiratory illness. Most of what we have is the Sin Nombre virus, which is most famous for the [1993] outbreak in the Four Corners area, when hanta really came to the attention of people in the U.S.," says McClelland. It was this strain that was responsible for Yosemite's 2012 outbreak. I think people are very attuned to this right now because we're relatively close on the heels of a pandemic, and so something that can be transmitted by breathing is really scary," McClelland says.

Hikers and backpackers spend little time in enclosed spaces, meaning our risks for contracting airborne illnesses are already lower than the general public. Virtually all of them are west of the Mississippi, so depending where people are, there may be no risk. What we have is sort of a decreasing rather than an increasing outbreak overall." When it comes to backpacking and camping in primitive structures, McClelland says a person may be more at risk cleaning out an infested space than spending the night. And if you have concerns about a shelter, rest assured that tent camping carries virtually no risk of exposure to Hantavirus and other rodent-borne illnesses. But those hiking to and camping in lean-tos, cabins, and huts could find themselves in a rodent-infested space.

We are almost certainly not on the verge of a new pandemic because the virus just doesn't spread easily enough," he says. Luckily for hikers, McClelland says exposure to these diseases is easy to avoid. Rat-bite fever is another possible threat contracted not only through bites, but potentially through contact with rodent urine. With just very simple avoidance of that particular setting, hikers are safe from this," he says. And there are more important things for hikers to be concerned about in terms of infectious disease in the wilderness.