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New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona lead the nation in the total number of hantavirus cases. But infections show up in more than two-thirds of the continental United States. Every year there are a handful of fatalities from complications of the virus that’s spread by mice. Native Americans are particularly susceptible. The mortality rate reported by the Navajo Nation Epidemiology Center is significantly higher than that of the general population. It’s not a new disease, but the first outbreak wasn’t identified until 1993 in the Four Corners area (New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona). We’ll get an update on efforts to tackle the spread of hantavirus.
Guests:
Del Yazzie (Navajo) – epidemiologist with Navajo Ep Center
Dr. Michelle Harkins – chief of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine in the department of internal medicine at the University of New Mexico
Sandra Melman – zoonotic disease epidemiologist for NM DOH
Amy Kuenzi (Kinsey)- professor of biology at Montana Te4ch
Dallin Peterson MPH – epidemiologist focused on animal and vector borne illnesses with Utah dep of health
Break Music: Red Man Groove Thing (song) Aaron White and Anthony Wakeman (artist) Handprints Of Our People (album)
