09:57 PM PST on Monday, March 27, 2006

Associated Press

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A woman from the Lynden area in northwest Washington has died from hantavirus in Whatcom County's first known case of the disease.

County Health Officer Greg Stern says the case is not an immediate cause for concern. He says the disease is spread through the saliva, urine and droppings of deer mice, not through person-to-person contact.

He cautions, however, that the risk can rise as more people clean out enclosed areas and stir up infected dust.

Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel says 44-year-old Sara M. Shields-Priddy died Wednesday, and tests at a state lab confirmed the presence of hantavirus on Friday.

Hantavirus produces flu-like symptoms and can spread to the lungs.

The Bellingham Herald reports the type that killed Shields-Priddy was first identified in the United States in 1993. From its U-S discovery to February of this year, the federal Centers for Disease Control reports there have been 416 cases of hantavirus nationally, including 32 in Washington state. The virus is blamed for 146 deaths in that time.