Hantavirus concerns heightened at Yosemite National Park

FRESNO, Calif.

There are now eight cases of Hantavirus and three fatalities linked to separate campsites in the park.

Rangers sent letters and emails advising campers who stayed in the park about the most recent case of the mouse-borne illness.

A hiker, who stayed in the High Sierra Camps located about an hour and a half from Curry Village, contracted the virus and is recovering.

That camp remains open, but park officials have closed the 21 signature cabins in Curry Village, where the first case of Hantavirus was reported.

Rangers are also staffing a call center to field questions about the virus.

Kari Cobb said, "The only way for somebody to contract Hantavirus is breathing in viral particles of mouse feces and urine and that being said it has to be in an enclosed area somewhere where there's not a lot of ventilation."

Rangers say the symptoms of Hantavirus are like that of the flu, and the virus cannot be transmitted from one person to another.

In the video, Action News reporter Stephanie Stone has complete coverage on the story.

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