Shaina Montiel, a 38-year-old special education teacher from California, has spoken out about her traumatic experience with hantavirus, which she contracted over three decades ago. The virus, recently linked to an outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship, caused her severe vomiting and rectal haemorrhaging at the age of five.
Montiel fell ill in 1993 with flu-like symptoms, but her condition rapidly deteriorated. She was hospitalised for over a week and tested for meningitis and leukaemia before a doctor, who had attended a seminar on hantavirus, correctly diagnosed her with the haemorrhagic strain. The illness was so painful that she could not be touched without flinching.
After recovering, Montiel was monitored for two years due to the rarity of the virus at the time. Doctors warned of potential long-term effects on her kidneys and vision, but she experienced none. However, she developed health anxiety and a phobia of vomiting as a result of her ordeal.
Montiel said: 'I have a lot of memories from that time, because it was so traumatic. Seeing someone who survived it on TV this week was the first time I'd seen another survivor. It's like a little part of me is being shared with the world.'
The source of her infection was suspected to be animal faeces from playing in her rural back garden. Montiel expressed concern about the human-to-human strain of the virus, which differs from the rodent-borne strain she contracted, and hoped that those currently affected would recover as she did.
