Years ago (1970s), there was a health issue along the Hanta River of South Korea. Researchers would eventually determine that it was a virus that got passed along mostly because of mice. Between their feces and urine.....it would get passed along to humans. So was created the Hantavirus.
This got into the German news in the past week....out of Stuttgart. In 2016, they had 84 cases of Hantavirus in the Stuttgart area. Right now....they've exceeded 108 cases so far in four months of 2017.
Chief symptoms? Fever, headaches, back pain, blood pressure dropping, and flu-like feeling. The big problem here is that if you don't get this identified early on.....you reach a stage where kidney failure starts to happen, and it's down hill from that point on.
How it got to be a problem? What the scientists generally say is that urbanization has created a rich environment where homes are built on the edges of towns.....near forested areas, and more contact with the environment starts to occur (to include mice). So you put up a bar-b-q pit and some mouse lays out his saliva or urine, and you happen to get into the midst of this.
Interestingly enough.....it's a virus which isn't passed from human to human (at least not yet)....you need the mouse to be the carrier.
Treatment? Well....there is no vaccine. Lots of research but no development yet of a vaccine for this. After the doctor identifies you with the virus.....you have several treatments but there is no sure-fire way of dealing with this. Most treatments are geared to improve your immune system, and let it fight off the virus.
When you stand back and look at this.....you can imagine yourself in the 1600s and having to deal with the plague (mice-driven), and a public health system which wasn't able to really deal with the problem. It's not as bad as the plague situation, but it invites more questions over your health and your relationship with the local environment.
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