Hantavirus cluster among visitors to Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, traced to deer mouse infestation in tent cabin insulation.
Between June and October 2012, ten visitors to Yosemite National Park developed hantavirus pulmonary syndrome after staying in the "Signature" tent cabins at Curry Village. Three died. The cabins, intended as upscale lodging, had double-walled construction with insulation between the walls — providing ideal habitat for deer mice and trapping aerosolized excreta within the living space.
Yosemite closed the 91 affected tent cabins and notified more than 22,000 visitors who had stayed in them during the exposure period. The outbreak prompted significant changes in National Park Service rodent control protocols and reinforced existing CDC guidance for cleaning rodent-contaminated structures.