CDC: 10,000 at risk from viral outbreak in Yosemite

Summer visitors to Yosemite National Park in California may have contracted a deadly rodent-borne virus, federal health officials are warning.

The outbreak of hantavirus, a lung disease, has already killed two and sickened four others. Officials have linked the flare-up to deer mice nesting in the walls of the park's popular tent cabins.

Warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pertain to people who stayed at the park between June and August — particularly those who bunked in the valley's Curry Village campground.

The CDC is urging park visitors who exhibit strange or flu-like symptoms to seek immediate medical attention.

Hantavirus presents with vomiting, muscle aches and fever, but brings on more serious effects such as fluid in the lungs, according to the Mayo Clinic. Humans contract the rare sickness by breathing air exposed to the urine or droppings of infected rodents, but the virus does not spread between people.

Yosemite hosts roughly 4 million visitors every year, most of whom stay in and around Curry Village.

The campground's tent cabins have been closed for renovations intended to keep deer mice out. If the effort fails, the cabins may be closed permanently.

An emergency call center related to the outbreak received 900 calls its first day, a Yosemite spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times.

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