![]() Symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome appear within 1 to 5 weeks after exposure. The two main types of disease caused by a hantavirus are hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (found in North America) and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (found mainly in Europe and Asia). How does hantavirus affect my health? Back to top However, the viruses isolated in South America are genetically distinct from those described in North America. A few situations of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in South America suggests person-to-person transmission is possible. Person-to-person transmission in North America has not been reported. Transmission can also occur when contaminated material gets into broken skin, or possibly, ingested in contaminated food or water. People can contract the hantavirus infection through inhalation of respirable droplets of saliva or urine, or through the dust of feces from infected wild rodents, especially the deer mouse. How can hantavirus enter my body? Back to top Since 1989, there have been 109 confirmed hantavirus cases and 27 deaths in Canada according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (as of January 2015). When researchers reviewed other earlier cases, they were able to positively identify that there were at least 3 other cases occurring before 1994, the first happening in 1989. Hantavirus was first identified in Canada in 1994. The virus does not remain active for long once outside of its host - less than 1 week outdoors and a few hours when exposed to direct sunlight. ![]() It causes a rare but serious lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Hantavirus is a virus that is found in the urine, saliva, or droppings of infected deer mice and some other wild rodents (cotton rats, rice rats in the southeastern Unites States and the white-footed mouse and the red-backed vole).
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