Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffHantavirus pulmonary syndrome has been reported in many U.S. states, but it's most common in rural areas of the western United States during the spring and summer months. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome also occurs in South America and Canada. Other hantaviruses occur in Asia, where they cause kidney disorders rather than lung problems.
Certain groups of people — such as hunters or construction workers — are more likely to be exposed to rodents who carry hantaviruses. The chance of developing the syndrome is greater for people who work, live or play in spaces where rodents live.
Factors and activities that increase the risk of developing hantavirus illness include:
- Opening and cleaning previously unused buildings or sheds
- Housecleaning, particularly in attics or other low-traffic areas
- Having a home or work space infested with rodents
- Having a job that involves exposure to rodents, such as construction, utility work and pest control
- Camping, hiking or hunting
- Dermody TS. Infectious diseases and their etiologic agents. In: Mandell, GL, et al. Mandell, Bennett, & Dolin: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2005:2086.
- Shafts C. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2008: 380.
- Brown D, et al. Zoonotic viruses. In: Cohen J, et al. Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2004:2095.
- Hantavirus infection. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec17/ch198/ch198j.html. Accessed Dec. 21, 2008.
- Hjelle B. Epidemiology and diagnosis of hantavirus infections. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 21, 2008.
- Hjelle B. Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 21, 2008.
- All about hantaviruses: How do I prevent HPS? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/prevent.htm. Accessed Dec. 21, 2008.
- Steckelberg JM (expert opinion). Mayo
