A 55-year-old male with rapid onset respiratory distress after cleaning out an abandoned storage shed is most likely diagnosed with which infection?

• A. Hantavirus
• B. Leptospirosis
• C. Tularemia
• D. COVID-19

Answer: (A)

Inhalation of aerosolized rodent excreta in dusty environments can transmit hantavirus, leading to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Cleaning out an abandoned storage shed can aerosolize mouse urine and droppings, allowing the virus to enter the lungs. After a brief incubation, people often develop a flu‑like illness that suddenly progresses to severe shortness of breath and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema as the lungs become leaky. This rapid, dramatic respiratory deterioration in the context of disturbed rodent droppings is characteristic of hantavirus.

Leptospirosis would more likely follow exposure to water or soil contaminated with animal urine and presents with fever, myalgias, and sometimes jaundice. Tularemia is usually linked to handling wild animals or bites and tends to present with fever and localized signs such as ulcers or swollen nodes. COVID-19 can cause respiratory symptoms but doesn't classically arise from this specific environmental exposure pattern.