Hantavirus suspected in death of Belmont backstretch worker

A backstretch worker at Belmont Park died on June 6, five days after being admitted to the hospital after being found unconscious in the stable area, and the death is being investigated by state health officials as a suspected case of hantavirus, according to an advisory issued by the New York State Department of Health.

The un-named worker, who lived in a dorm on the Belmont backstretch, may have been exposed to “rodent excretions,” the advisory said, and tests are currently being conducted to confirm if the death was caused by hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

The health advisory said that hantavirus is spread in very rare cases from rodents to humans when rodent urine, saliva, and feces become aerosolized in confined spaces when disturbed, such as by sweeping or vacuuming. The advisory and a statement from Belmont’s operator, the New York Racing Association, suggested that the virus may have been contained in matter aerosolized in one of the track’s dormitories, not in a barn.

“Following the return of an initial positive test, [the Department of Health] investigated all 78 residential cottages and dormitories at Belmont Park,” the NYRA statement said. “DOH subsequently made several recommendations to NYRA regarding health and safety practices in living and working spaces at Belmont.”

The Department of Health statement said that NYRA has agreed “to overhaul its pest control management practices” and that the association has distributed information about hantavirus to backstretch workers.

The Department of Health said that five cases of hantavirus infection have been recorded in New York since 1993, and that 728 reports of hantavirus infection have been issued in the U.S. since the same year, mostly in Western states. The advisory said that visitors to Belmont Park are not at risk of being exposed to the virus.

“As noted by the New York State Department of Health, this is an extremely rare virus,” said Pat McKenna, the communications director for NYRA, in a statement. “This virus has not, and will not, impact the public visiting Belmont Park. We are redoubling our efforts to address appropriate rodent control measures through all backstretch facilities.”

The unnamed worker was the second backstretch employee at Belmont Park to die in the span of 11 days. On June 17, an ex-boyfriend of a stable worker stabbed her to death on the backstretch. He has been charged with second-degree murder.