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One case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was reported in Indiana in 1999. An adult male from Carroll County was diagnosed with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in June of 1999. Indiana has recorded only one other case since the disease was recognized. In 1994, an adult resident of Hendricks County died of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Laboratory tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta confirmed the infection in both individuals.

A strain of hantavirus (Sin Nombre virus) was determined to be the cause of an outbreak of ARDS in the southwest United States in 1993. Since then 250 cases in 31 states have been identified. This strain was also responsible for the two HPS cases in Indiana.

Hantavirus is contracted by inhaling aerosolized droplets of feces, urine, or saliva from rodents, including the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, the predominant reservoir of infection identified in the outbreak in the southwestern United States. Other possible modes of transmission include ingestion or contamination of open wounds with rodent droppings or urine. Person to person transmission has not been documented.

During interviews and visits to the Carroll county man's home to determine the source of the infection it was noted that mice had been feeding heavily on birdseed kept in the home's garage. The patient reported using a gasoline powered leaf blower to blow debris and mouse dropping out of the garage a few days prior to becoming ill. It is presumed that the blowers aerosolized the hantavirus particles deposited in mice urine and droppings, and were inhaled by the patient.

The best way to prevent infection with hantavirus is avoid contact with rodents or the places where they live. If a person can't avoid such contact, they can minimize the risk by following some simple measures: 1) set traps when rodents are observed in the home; 2) always wear gloves when handling rodents or their droppings; 3) prior to cleaning, moisten and disinfect (with dilute bleach, for example) sites where rodents and droppings have been observed so that dust is not aerosolized; and 4) rodent-proof homes as much as possible by sealing gaps where mice might enter.

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