Posted on 04/26/2025 9:11:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A young California man died from the same rare rodent-linked virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife in February — with health officials discovering rat droppings at his workplace following his untimely death, according to a report.
Rodrigo Becerra, 26, had fallen seriously ill and was prescribed antibiotics the night before he was found convulsing in his Mammoth Lakes home, where he perished from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, on March 6, his family told SFGATE.
Becerra, who was just three days shy of his birthday when he died, worked as a bell hop at Mammoth Mountain Inn, where rodent droppings have since been found behind the establishment’s front desk.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
There could be an outbreak of this at Sutter Health Park, the minor league place where the Sacramento A’s play.
My mother’s friend died of an infection from changing kitty litter. It may have been the same virus.
Hantavirus comes from rodents…not just rats, but mice and squirrels. It seems to be worse in wet years when there is more food like seeds.
Hanta virus from mice/rats.
How can that be? Cats kill rodents.
They eat rodents and poop out the viruses.
That was probably toxoplasmosis which is a parasitic infection not a virus.
My AI research assistant tells me that cats and dogs don’t spread hanta virus to humans, but they could be infected. It seems counter-intuitive that it cannot be spread to humans by any infected animal. So far, it seems to be spread by urine, saliva and droppings of some rodents...either by aerosol route or direct route like touching or breathing it in. Since not all cat urine or feces is tested for it, the general idea is that it is not infectious to humans.
Cat litter can harbor other viruses or parasites, however.
FYI, and IMHO
Too many ‘rats in California
It may have not been. My internet searching has informed me that Hanta Virus is not transmissible through the litter box.
However, Cryptosporidium is transmissible and can be deadly for people if they have a compromised immune system and it be picked up by changing kitty litter.
“Convulsions”?
Not listed on the CDC site...
I didn’t know R Lee Ermy was in Willard.
Didn’t that used to be called Raley Field? I remember crossing that weird looking bridge. As I recall, the federal building is on Capitol Mall Blvd, along with the State Capitol. I had to go to Cal PERS office on Q street a few times too, and the K Street Mall is near there.
The movie Willard was on Svengoolie last night
No, not the same. The kitty litter ds is toxoplasmosis.
Every year in Colorado & New Mex. the state puts out warnings about Hanta virus. People sweeping out their garage after finding mouse droppings get sick a few days later and think they have the flu, only to die a week or so later.
The rule is: Don’t sweep the poop. It aerosolizes the virus, you breath it into your lungs, and you’re probably not going to survive.
I’m surprised the CDC hasn’t weaponized the virus and released it into the general public
Just on Svengoolie last night
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.