past campers
ヨセミテ国立公園でキャンプした宿泊客が「ハンタウイルス肺症候群」--ネズミのふん・尿などを介したウイルス--に感染し、米国立公園局によれば、28日までに2人が死亡しました。ヨセミテは夏休みの定番コースです。実は私もかつてこの場所の簡易テントに泊り、オオムカデに足を刺され右足が１.５倍にふくれあがり、ビレッジセンターで治療を受けた苦い経験があります（以来、行くときにはロッジに泊まることにしています）。しかし今度のウイルスはそんな虫刺されとは違ってfatalです。
past campersにあるpastを私たちはpast week「先週」のように何気に使いますが、「これまでに〜した」という日本語を表す場合にもこの形容詞は用いられます。６月に泊まった人たちが発症しているわけで、このvirusの潜伏期間が長く、late-appearingです。これ以上、被害が広がらないことを祈ります。（UG）
Hantavirus Kills Second Yosemite National Park Camper
A second person has died from a rare virus after camping at Yosemite National Park, according to park officials.
The camper, whose name and gender have yet to be released, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a flu-like disease spread to humans by exposure to rodent droppings and urine. He had been camping in the California park's Curry Village Campground, where at least three other campers are thought to have acquired the virus this summer. Two of the four known cases have been fatal.
Park officials are warning 1,700 past campers that they might have been exposed to virus, The Associated Press reported.
"The health of our visitors is our paramount concern and we are making every effort to notify and inform our visitors of any potential illness," park superintendent Don Neubacher said in a statement, explaining how the flu-like symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome can take up to six weeks to appear. "We are encouraging anyone who stayed in Curry Village since June to be aware of the symptoms of hantavirus and seek medical attention at the first sign of illness."
Early symptoms include fatigue, fever, chills, muscle aches and headaches as well as stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in less than 10 days, those symptoms give way to coughing and shortness of breath as the lungs fill with fluid.
"There is no specific treatment, cure or vaccine for hantavirus infection," the CDC warns on its website. "However, we do know that if infected individuals are recognized early and receive medical care in an intensive care unit, they may do better."
