05/21/2026
You may have recently heard people mention hantaviruses in the news or on social media. If you’re not familiar, they’re a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans.
Strains differ from location to location.
In Colorado, the Sin Nombre strain of hantavirus is common and can be spread by deer mice. You cannot catch the Sin Nombre hantavirus from another person. Instead, infection happens via contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva and can cause a range of illnesses, including severe disease and death.
Only the Andes hantavirus strain, which is native to South America, is known to spread from person-to-person. This strain was in the news because of an outbreak on a cruise ship. The Andes strain does not naturally occur in North America and has not been found in Colorado.
