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Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley at Yosemite National Park in California. Photo: Reuters

Some 10,000 visitors to California's Yosemite National Park could have been exposed to a deadly virus that kills one in three victims and cannot be treated, officials say.

So far, six cases of the rare hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) have been confirmed - two of whom have died - while a "multiple" number of other suspected cases of the rodent-borne disease are being investigated.

Yosemite authorities closed down the "Signature Tent Cabins" earlier this week at Curry Village, a popular lodging area in Yosemite Valley, the tourist centre of the scenic park visited by millions of people every year.

The National Park Service (NPS) has written to some 2,900 people who booked stays in the Boystown area tent lodgings between June 10 and August 24, alerting them to keep an eye out for symptoms of HPS.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the number of people who actually stayed in the tent cabins - those who booked plus their guests - at 10,000.

"On August 24, 2012, the tents were disinfected and visitors were relocated. People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next six weeks," the CDC said.

The incubation period for HPS is typically two to four weeks after exposure, with a range of a few days up to six weeks.

Symptoms include fever, chills, myalgias, cough, headaches and gastrointestinal ailments.

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Killer virus at Yosemite

Yosemite's "moonbow" - a waterfall rainbow that captures the light of the moon. New fears have been raised that thousands of visitors to the iconic park have been exposed to a deadly virus.

SOME 10,000 visitors to California's Yosemite National Park could have been exposed to a deadly virus that kills one in three victims and cannot be treated

So far, six cases of the rare hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) have been confirmed - two of whom have died - while a "multiple" number of other suspected cases of the rodent-borne disease are being investigated.

Yosemite authorities closed down the "Signature Tent Cabins" earlier this week at Curry Village, a popular lodging area in Yosemite Valley, the tourist centre of the scenic park visited by millions of people every year.

The National Park Service has written to some 2900 people who booked stays in the Boystown area tent lodgings between June 10 and August 24, alerting them to keep an eye out for symptoms of HPS.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the number of people who actually stayed in the tent cabins - those who booked plus their guests - at 10,000.

"On August 24, 2012, the tents were disinfected and visitors were relocated. People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next six weeks," a spokesperson said in a statement.

The incubation period for HPS is typically two to four weeks after exposure, with a range of a few days up to six weeks.

Symptoms include fever, chills, myalgias, cough, headaches and gastrointestinal ailments.

"The disease often progresses rapidly to respiratory distress, requiring supplemental oxygen and/or intubation, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema and shock," the CDC said.

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Killer virus infects Yosemite visitors

By MANSUR MIROVALEV Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) - Investigators say police have detained a man who has confessed to killing two women in a central Russian city, and then tried to mislead investigations by scrawling a message at the murder scene demanding freedom for jailed members of the Pussy Riot band.

The man - a 38-year-old university professor named Igor Danilevsky - was detained Thursday in Kazan, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday. It said Danilevsky wrote "Free Pussy Riot" on a wall in the victims' blood because he wanted the deaths of the 38-year-old woman he dated and her mother, 76, to appear as if they were a "ritual killing."

The Committee said Danilevsky had convinced the woman to take out a loan to repay his debts, and promised to marry her. Police had found the knife used to stab the women to death and disfigure their faces and bodies, it said.

Three members of the band were sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month for a February "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral entreating the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin, who at the time was on the verge of winning a third term as Russian president.

The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furor, with celebrities such as Paul McCartney urging Russian authorities to free the band.

The jailed band members' attorney had called the two women's murder "either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic" case.

Kremlin-friendly media and the Orthodox Church clerics had seized upon the alleged link between the murder and the band to lambast the artists and their supporters, and compared them to mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses.

Some Russian publications ran headlines claiming Pussy Riot supporters "committed" or "inspired" the double homicide. The coverage was full of the mostly negative terms used by Kremlin-friendly television networks and media in their coverage of the protesters' trial.

The Orthodox Church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious, but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions urging authorities to free them.

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Arrested Russian killer denies ties to Pussy Riot

With nearly 1,100 cases andat least 44 deaths from West Nile Virus nationwide, you may have questions on how to protect yourself and your family. Getting rid of mosquitoes is one way. The University of Illinois Extension Service provided these tips:

Once again mosquitoes are causing problems in Illinois this summer, and University of Illinois Extension professionals caution gardeners may be more at risk of their bites. Though no human cases of West Nile Virus have been reported in the QC area there have been mosquitoes testing positive in nearby counties.

Gardeners are particularly vulnerable to mosquitoes this time of year because we garden early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid the heat. Of course, that's the time most of the mosquitoes are out, too.

Mosquitoes have been blamed for spreading the recent outbreak of West Nile Virus in the state and can also spread such other diseases as St. Louis encephalitis and eastern equine encephalitis.

There basically are two ways gardeners can protect themselves from mosquitoes eliminating the breeding sites and dealing with the adult mosquitoes.

As for eliminating potential breeding sites, empty water or change it at least once a week in saucers under plants, birdbaths and plants that hold water such as bromeliads.

If you have a water feature in your garden, it's OK if you have moving water, since mosquitoes won't breed in moving water. You're also OK if you have goldfish in it, since the fish will take care of the larvae swimming on the water's surface. Koi are not effective in controlling mosquito larvae since the fish are bottom feeders.

But you'll want to take some precautions like using an insecticide that kills larvae such as Mosquito Dunks in any water feature that has standing water and doesn't have fish.

To deal with adult mosquitoes, the methods can range from simply using relatively low-cost mosquito repellents to more expensive, high-tech methods.

Those who are inclined to make the investment can try high-tech mosquito traps, such as the Mosquito Magnet, on the market. Those devices use a combination of a propane tank, a carbon dioxide generator, an electric fan and other elements to attract and trap mosquitoes. They attract some mosquitoes, but not others. Their effectiveness varies with wind and other weather conditions and the number of mosquitoes present. Although they attract and kill large numbers of mosquitoes, they may not eliminate enough to protect you from bites.

Read the rest here:
West Nile Virus: How To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes

Woombye mother Katrina Day with her twin daughters Kate and Sophie.

Contributed

THE husband of a Woombye woman left fighting for her life after contracting the flu believes their children are giving her the will to live.

Katrina Day has been in an induced coma in intensive care in Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital for the last month with a machine breathing for her.

Initially her family was warned not to expect her to survive, but her husband Nick said she was a fighter.

"I've been with her for 16 years and she's one of the strongest and most tenacious people that I've come across," he said.

"She's got four beautiful kids to fight for. They are only young and I know she would give up anything rather than miss out on what's to happen their lives.

"I know that's what she's hanging in for."

Mrs Day came down with cold and flu-like symptoms in mid-July but her husband said it was "nothing major" initially.

Her condition worsened over the weekend of July 21-22 and she went to hospital with difficulties breathing.

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Virus leaves Coast mum in coma