Hantavirus

First identified during a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States, hantaviruses are now recognized on every inhabited continent. The primary human illness, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, carries a fatality rate of approximately 36%.

Transmission occurs through inhalation of aerosolized virus particles from rodent urine, droppings, or saliva. The virus is not spread person-to-person in the Americas.