Photojournalist recalls family hantavirus tragedy as rare disease still threatens
He lost his mother and sister to hantavirus, then became infected himself after cleaning their home. The rare disease still carries a narrow but deadly window for families and doctors.
Gilbert Zermeño carried a family memory that hantavirus rarely allows to fade: the speed. When his mother became ill in Lubbock, Texas, he rushed from Phoenix to her bedside and watched her die within hours. His sister also died from the disease, and Zermeño later became infected after cleaning the family house and coming into contact with rodent droppings.
He described that collapse in the span of a single day as he reflected on a tragedy that struck 24 years ago. The story still matters because hantavirus pulmonary syndrome remains a severe and potentially deadly lung disease, and the warning signs can arrive after an exposure that seems minor at first.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says symptoms usually begin one to eight weeks after contact with an infected rodent. Early illness can look deceptively ordinary, with fever, fatigue and muscle aches. The danger deepens when coughing and shortness of breath develop, signaling that the lungs are becoming involved.
That narrow window is one reason doctors and families can miss the diagnosis. Hantavirus disease has been nationally notifiable in the United States since 1993, and 890 laboratory-confirmed cases had been reported through the end of 2023. The total is small compared with many infectious diseases, but the severity of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome gives each case outsized weight.
The main U.S. reservoir for Sin Nombre virus is the deer mouse, and the CDC says rodent control is the primary prevention strategy. People should avoid contact with rodent urine, droppings, saliva and nesting materials, especially when cleaning sheds, cabins, garages or homes that may have been infested.
Zermeño’s experience shows how quickly exposure can become a family emergency. His mother’s death came just three hours after he reached her bedside, and his own infection followed the cleanup of a home contaminated by rodents. The lesson is stark: hantavirus remains rare, but when rodents and their waste are present, the risk is real, and early recognition can still make the difference between recovery and loss.
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