In humans, HPS causes severe respiratory illness. Infected people usually experience flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, and muscle aches. The disease progresses very rapidly. The lungs quickly fill with fluid requiring immediate intensive care treatment. To date, there have been three cases of HPS in British Columbia and seven in Alberta, with one fatality in each province.
Deer mice excrete the virus in urine, faeces, and saliva.
It is passed to humans primarily from inhaling dust and other airborne particles contaminated with infected rodent faeces and urine. Alberta case histories and research Of the seven cases of HPS found in Alberta, all had histories of rodent exposure including deer mice. Health Canada s Laboratory Centre for Disease Control in Ottawa set up diagnostic testing for HPS in 1994, and also initiated a national survey to study hantavirus in rodents, primarily deer mice. Little is known about the ecology of hantavirus in mice other than the suspected association between dry climates and high mouse densities. In May 1995, the University of Western Ontario, in cooperation with the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, launched a study of deer mouse-hantavirus interactions in southern Alberta to investigate the effect of climate on deer mouse abundance, population structure, and virus incidence.