Virus affects local islands

By Tracy Reynolds
Summer Forty-Niner

Ventura County Congressman Elton Gallegly urged the National Park Service, Tuesday, June 8, to close Channel Islands National Park in Ventura after an Oxnard boy was found to have been exposed to a deer mouse carrying the lethal hantavirus on June 1, 1999, according to the congressman’s press release.

Gallegly moved to close the park after a deer mouse the boy handled had been captured and tested positive for the hantavirus antibodies. The Oxnard boy and his family have shown no evidence of the disease to date, according to the NPS office of Public Health.

Gallegly’s request came two days after a Cal State Long Beach summer session course concluded a week-long field trip to Santa Barbara Island, one of the more remote Channel Islands. Lead by Dr. Katherine James, assistant professor in the department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at CSULB, several students participated in the course which ran from June 1 to June 6.

Students participating in the CSULB summer session course on the Santa Barbara Island were instructed by Dr. James about necessary precautions to take to limit contact with rodents while on the island.

“Dr. James warned us about the deer mice even though no mice with hantavirus have been found on Santa Barbara Island,” said CSULB student Rachel Goldman. “The signs warning visitors of  the virus are in plain view at the docks. We followed every precaution.”

These precautions include avoiding contact with deer mice burrows, keeping food in rodent-proof containers and not sleeping on the bare ground.
 
Although aware of Gallegly’s request, the NPS has refused to close the park to date, citing precautionary measures are the best way to keep this virus in check, said Trish Buffinton, assistant superintendent for the Channel Island National Park. 
 
“Up to 70 percent of the mice on the Channel Islands have tested positive for the hantavirus antibodies,” said Vicki Kramer, California State Health Department specialist on the hantavirus. “But as yet there have been no reported human illnesses from contact on the islands.”

“Even if everyone is fine, the incident underlies the potential for disaster. There is no known cure for this often- fatal disease,” Gallegly said.

The disease is spread to humans through contact with urine, feces, or nesting materials of deer mice.

Eleven people died near Flagstaff, Ariz. in 1993 from an outbreak of the virus. The same El Nino conditions that contributed to the Arizona epidemic are credited with the high mouse population and hantavirus infection on the islands, according to NPS Public Health Department. 

“Although no one is known to have become fatally ill from contact on the Channel Islands, the infection has caused fatalities across the nation, including one death in Santa Barbara County in 1992,” Gallegly said. “We must err on the side of caution to ensure that public health and safety are maintained.”

“We are not closing the park,” said Buffington.

“The hantavirus is present in deer mice in several western National Parks,” said John Hanley, NPS director of public health. “We can’t close a park because this virus or rabies or some other disease may cause someone harm. It’s just not a practical solution. The congressman may be overreacting to an isolated incident.”

“The best method to keep the hantavirus from becoming a problem is to educate and warn the public,” Hanley said. “NPS employees on the islands are at risk to this virus every day, yet when the proper precautions are exercised, the potential for contracting the hantavirus is quite slim. No one has become ill yet.”

The NPS has posted signs warning the public of the presence of the hantavirus on the islands since 1997. Pamphlets regarding safety precautions are distributed to visitors when they board ferry boats over to the Channel Islands, Hanley said. 

“The boy who came into contact with the deer mouse arrived on Santa Cruz Island by private boat,” Hanley said. “Hence, he did not receive the proper warnings regarding the hantavirus. The NPS is looking into closing approaches to the islands by individuals on private boats.”

“I only saw two mice the entire week,” Goldman said. “They were more scared of us than anything else. You just have to be careful. I would definitely recommend this course. I would do it again.”

For more information about the hantavirus and necessary precautions to take while visiting the park call the Channel Islands National Park headquarters in Ventura at (808)658-5700.