Hantavirus, rabies cases reported at the Grand Canyon: NPS
Grand Canyon (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Caleb Worpel)
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. - Officials with the National Park Service announced on July 3 that two cases of zoonotic disease, or disease that can be transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to humans and vice versa, haec been reported at the Grand Canyon.
What we know:
Per a statement, one of the cases involved hantavirus, and the other case involved rabies.
For the hantavirus case, officials said it involved a concessions employee, and that the employee is recovering at home.
As for the rabies case, NPS officials said it involved a bat that was collected near River Mile 143 along the Colorado River that tested positive.
"Two individuals had physical contact with the bat and received medical evaluation and treatment," read a portion of the statement.
What we don't know:
NPS officials did not say when the cases were identified. In their statement, they only said the two separate cases were "recently confirmed."
What's hantavirus?
Dig deeper:
According to the Mayo Clinic's website, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a "rare infectious disease that begins with flu-like symptoms and progresses rapidly to more severe disease."
"Infection is usually caused by inhaling hantaviruses that have become airborne from rodent urine, droppings or saliva," read a portion of the website.
Symptoms for Hantavirus pulmonary differ by stage, with the disease's first stage involving the following:
- Fever and chills
- Muscle aches or pain
- Headache
- Nausea
- Stomach pain
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
"As the disease progresses, it can lead to damaged lung tissues, fluid build-up in the lungs, and serious problems with lung and heart function," read a portion of Mayo Clinic's website.
Hantavirus became a topic of news reports in April, when officials in New Mexico announced that actor Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died as a result of the virus.
Both Arakawa and Hackman were found dead at their Santa Fe estate on Feb. 26, but authorities have said that Hackman tested negative for hantavirus.
Read More: What is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been 864 cases of the disease from 1993, which is the year surveillance on the virus began, and 2022. The death count does not include Arakawa, who in 2025.
What's rabies?
Per the Cleveland Clinic's website, the Rabies virus is transmitted through direct contact through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose or mouth with the saliva or brain/nervous system tissue from an infected animal.
"Once symptoms start, rabies causes death within a few days," read a portion of the website, while noting the disease is preventable, and that medical providers give vaccinations to those exposed to rabies in order to prevent the virus from causing the disease.
What Experts Are Saying:
"You can survive rabies exposure if you’re treated within a few days of exposure, before you have symptoms," read a portion of the Cleveland Clinic's website. "Once you have rabies — that is, you’re showing symptoms of the virus affecting your brain — there aren’t any effective treatments available. Without early vaccination and antibody treatment, rabies is nearly always fatal."
Experts offer prevention tips
What you can do:
Both the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic offered advice on how to prevent infections:
Hantavirus
- Block mice access to a home or business by sealing holes.
- Wash dishes promptly, and keep clean counters.
- Storing food, including pet food, in rodent-proof containers.
- Use tight-fitting lids on garbage cans.
- Clear brush, grass, and junk away from a building's foundation in order to reduce nesting material.
- Set rodent trap, while exercising caution when poison-bait traps are used because it can harm people and pets.
- Move woodpiles or compost bins away from a home.
- Open up and air out cabins, campers, or infrequently used buildings before cleaning it.
Rabies
- Leaving wildlife alone.
- Assume you and/or someone else have been bitten if they were sleeping inside a room where a bat was found, and contact a health care provider right away.
- Make sure your pet's vaccinations are up to date, and don't let them roam free without supervision.
- Contact health care provider as soon as possible if you have been scratched or bitten by a wild animal, or exposed to rabies in some other way.
- Get vaccinated on a regular basis against rabies if you are at a high risk of exposure.