After about 4 or 5 days, fluid rapidly builds up in the lungs, making it extremely difficult to breath. Blood pressure may become so low that the person gets dizzy and might even faint. Six of the 11 patients survived their illness. Considering the low survival rate, even when treatment is begun quickly, the most effective public health measures are preventive. A. Wild rodents, the natural hosts for all known hantaviruses, can be infected for months.
Infected rodents shed virus in their urine, feces, and saliva.
Humans typically become infected when the virus that has settled on dirt or dust gets stirred up into the air and gets into a person's lungs. It also is possible to become infected through rodent bites and through direct contact with infected rodents or their droppings. Infection may also be contracted by touching anything in an environment where rodents have been active, then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth. No, there is no evidence that hantaviruses spread from one person to another. Hantavirus transmission from an infected patients to a health care worker has never been documented.