YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KMPH) -
News out of Yosemite National Park where two more cases of Hantavirus are confirmed.
Now that brings the total to six, with two deaths.
The virus outbreak took place in Yosemite Park's historic Curry Village, in the signature cabins.
The Hantavirus is carried in the feces and urine of deer mice, and it's mice that brought it into the cabins.
Park rangers say they've discovered a design flaw in the cabin walls.
Park Ranger Kari Cobb says, "What we've determined the mice are able to get in through the floor and then make their way into the walls and build nests."
The cabins will remain closed until they are retrofitted.
But Vicki Kramer, with the California Department of Public Health says, "Yosemite to their credit, has taken quite a few steps to address this issue. But it's a wilderness area and these buildings aren't going to be tight. It's impossible to get rid of the deer mice."
Yosemite National Park officials have sent out thousands of emails and letters to those who stayed in the rustic cabins from June through August of this year.
Currently, the federal government has two epidemiologists working in the park.
They are trapping mice and other rodents in an effort to determine how much of the population is infected with the virus.
The Hantavirus takes about six weeks to show symptoms, usually flu-like. But it can quickly affect the lungs and can cause death.
