Hantavirus Explodes Across US Northwest: High Levels of Lung-Damaging Sin Nombre Virus Detected

Researchers find widespread hantavirus in Northwest rodents, prompting closer scrutiny of human exposure risks. (Credit: https://www.scientificanimations.com/, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)

Hantavirus is spreading across parts of the US Northwest, with researchers reporting unusually high levels of the lung-damaging Sin Nombre virus in rodents across Washington and Idaho, according to the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The findings published on 24 May in the journal, drawn from fieldwork in the Palouse region, suggest the virus is more entrenched in local wildlife than previously documented, raising concerns about human exposure in nearby farming communities.