Traps to control hanta virus

Blas Armien, principal investigator of the Hanta Virus Project of the Gorgas Institute, said that setting traps in areas where rodents sleep has diminished their population.

The rats come to areas where crops are growing attracted by the smell of the crops. They urinate in the cereal and transmit the disease to humans.

They also contaminate bottles that are left outside warehouses and when a person drinks from the bottle they can contract the virus.

The symptoms of hanta virus include fever, low blood pressure, renal failure and in some extreme cases death.

There have been 106 reported hanta cases since 1999.