The cabins in Curry Village where Yosemite rangers suspect the virus originated from
A recent virus that has caught on to six people and killed two has been discovered to originate from Yosemite National Park. Named the Hantavirus, the virus’s symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, shortness of breath, and ultimately organ and respiratory failure, with most of these symptoms occurring just a few hours after being affected. The virus itself was found in the park’s historic Curry Village luxury cabins, where officials named cause of the outbreak as a design flaw of the cabins. Currently, there is no cure for the virus, and approximately 36% of the people who contract the virus will die from it.
Although many people have not actually caught the virus, thousands of people have called the ranger station in Yosemite, some from places as far away as the U.K. and France, claiming that they have symptoms that seem like the Hantavirus.
The Hantaviruses are a relatively new strain of viruses. The origins of the virus date back to Medieval England in the late fifteenth century, but this particular strain of viruses appears to have originated in the Korean War, around 60 years ago. The virus is carried mainly by rodents, and in the case of the Yosemite outbreaks, they were carried by rats and bats. The design flaw in the cabins of Curry Village was that there was a sliver of space between the wall and the foundation, allowing for a mass breeding of rodents in that area. The village is currently walled off and being sanitized and fixed.
Some people were irritated with the way the Yosemite staff handled the situation, not notifying some people earlier. Camille Chu, 39, after learning that she had not been notified on the day of the warning, said, “People need to know now. You should always err on the side of caution and that’s not what they did. I’m infuriated. I’m very upset.”
Because the incubation period of the virus can last 4-6 weeks, many campers have not yet given the “all-clear” and will likely not be given it until early- to mid-October.
