The autopsy results for a Hesperus man have confirmed the cause of death as hantavirus.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Robert A. Kurtzman said in his autopsy report that serology testing confirmed the presence of the hantavirus infection in 36-year-old Thaddeus Conan Stahl, who died April 6. No other infections were found.
"The decedent (Stahl) had recently cleaned sheds that may have contained mice," Kurtzman wrote in the report. "In addition to cleaning sheds, the decedent reportedly was shooting prairie dogs recently."
While the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had confirmed on April 10 that Stahl had died of hantavirus, no information was released as to how he had contracted the disease.
Hantavirus is a rare, but often deadly disease carried primarily by deer mice.
The state health department said Stahl was the second Colorado resident to die from hantavirus in 2015. Typically, between one and eight Colorado residents contract the disease each year.
The department urged residents to take precautions to avoid the disease, including ventilating structures for at least a week and spraying any accumulation of dust, dirt and mouse droppings with a solution of bleach and water before cleaning.
"Be particularly careful where there is evidence that mice have been in and around buildings or wood or junk piles," state public-health veterinarian Dr. Jennifer House said in a news release. "An increase in the number of mice around a home often precedes a person getting the disease."
Symptoms of the virus include fever, body aches, headaches and vomiting, but it often proceeds quickly to respiratory distress.
There is no cure for hantavirus, House said, but early admission to a hospital allows treatment of symptoms and supportive therapy.
abutler@durangoherald.com
