Curry Village (Half Dome Village), Yosemite National Park, California
Sin Nombre hantavirus HPS · Yosemite National Park, California · verified historical
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Summary
Cluster of Sin Nombre virus pulmonary syndrome cases among visitors who had stayed in Signature Tent Cabins at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, with illness onsets between 2 July and 16 August 2012. Eight of the ten laboratory-confirmed cases developed HPS; five required intensive care with ventilatory support and three died. Investigation identified deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) nesting in the foam insulation between the inner and outer walls of the Signature cabins, which were subsequently dismantled. The National Park Service notified roughly 230,000 visitors who had stayed in the implicated cabins.
Why this matters
One of the largest single-location HPS exposure events in North America and a notable example of a shared environmental exposure producing apparent independent infections clustered in time and place. Influenced National Park Service rodent-proofing protocols.
Sources
- T1 Notes from the Field: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in Visitors to a National Park — Yosemite Valley, California, 2012 CDC MMWR · 2026-05-07
- T1 Hantavirus Infections among Overnight Visitors to Yosemite National Park, California, USA, 2012 Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC) / PMC · 2026-05-07
- T1 Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – Yosemite National Park, United States of America World Health Organization · 2026-05-07