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A Mono County man was diagnosed with the first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in California this year, the state Department of Public Health said Wednesday.

Authorities said they did not know how the man was exposed to the often deadly virus but said he had completely recovered since he fell ill late last month. The man's age was not released because officials said it could be used to identify him in the sparsely populated Eastern Sierra county.

The disease is transmitted through the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents—especially deer mice. People contract hantavirus by breathing in the dried particles infected with the virus.

Symptoms include fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough, and tend to develop one to six weeks after exposure.

Since hantavirus was first identified in 1993, there have been 48 cases in California, including three fatal cases last year.

Some 465 cases have been reported in 32 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of which were fatal.

source:www.mercurynews.com