The following states have reported lab-confirmed Seoul virus infections to the CDC: Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
The CDC first reported the outbreak on Jan. 18 after eight infections were detected in Illinois and Wisconsin. Investigators traced the start of the outbreak to ratteries in Illinois and Wisconsin.
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Now, the CDC is investigating ratteries in 16 states: Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Seoul virus is a hantavirus carried by wild and domestic Norway rats. It doesn’t make the rats sick, but the virus can spread if humans are exposed to blood, saliva or urine of an infected rat or if they are bit by one. The virus does not spread person to person. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, blurred vision and a rash.
Find more information on the virus and the outbreak here.
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