Strain of Hantavirus Is Discovered in Roof Rat Common to Orange County

Seoul variety of the disease carried by a Roof Rat in Orange County Villa Park Flood Control Basin! Orange Unified School District official says the rats, roof rats, that are infesting Villa Park Elementary” don’t carry any diseases”. Either that person is ignorant of what diseases those rats carry or he/she thinks the parents of Villa Park Elementary don’t need to the fact that they do. Orange County Vector Control found roof rats with a strain of the Hantavirus in 1999. Below is a reprint of an article that was printed in the LA Times in August 1999. August 04, 1999|JAMES MEIER | SPECIAL TO THE TIMES Orange Unified School District official say the rats, roof rats, that are infesting Villa Park Elementary” don’t carry any diseases”. County officials said Tuesday that a strain of the dangerous hantavirus has been discovered in a roof rat in the Villa Park Flood Control Basin, the type of rodent that has invaded thousands of homes and apartments across Southern California. No illnesses related to the so-called Seoul virus have been reported, but the virus can cause kidney failure in extreme cases. The strain is rarely fatal, said Dr. James Webb of the Orange County Vector Control District. The county is urging residents who notice roof rats on their property to call the vector control office, which will dispatch a crew to determine whether the rodents are carrying the virus or any other disease. Officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of roof rats live in Orange County, mostly in the South County area. Complaints of rat problems increased 30% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 1998.