10,000 at Risk in Yosemite

Overnight guests who stayed in Yosemite’s insulated “Signature” cabins anytime between June and August could have been exposed to a deadly mouse-borne virus that has killed two and sickened four. Park officials have sent letters and email warnings to about 3,000 people who reserved the cabins, but since they fit four, up to 7,000 more people may have been exposed to the deadly virus. Rangers say that panicked campers have been flooding them with more than 1,000 calls a day since the warning. Called hantavirus, the illness begins with flu-like symptoms before degenerating into respiratory and organ failure—36 percent of those who contract the virus die.