1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak

In 1993, a sickness called hantavirus spread in the U.S. It started in the Four Corners area, a place where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado all meet. The hantavirus is a virus carried by mice and other rodents. When people breathed in dust from rat droppings, they got sick. People with hantavirus had trouble breathing and felt very tired. Some even died. Health officials worked quickly to try to stop the viruses from spreading. They cleaned the areas around the Four Corners and tried to keep people from coming into contact with rat droppings. They also told people not to touch dead rodents and to get help from a professional if they saw any rodents around their home. Scientists also worked quickly to figure out what the virus was and how to treat it. They learned a lot about hantavirus and have now developed medicines that can help people who get it.